What Peter Did
by marauding101
Summary: So we know the story. It has been covered enough times. But what about Peter? We know he eventually betrayed the Potters to Lord Voldemort, but could it be that his hand was forced? This is his story, from seventh year to that fateful night. With plenty of Marauders being silly, Lily being sensible, and what happened to Peter.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Potter Manor really was too big. Because, really? What did a family of three need with two separate wings in a manor, where each wing can house a large family? And although Sirius did live there now as well, it only really meant that the third member of the Potter family James, the son, was at the Potter Manor less and less. Most of the time, the house had only two occupants: Mr and Mrs Potter. And seeing as they were 69 and 67 respectively, and that Mr Potter has acquired a rather unattractive leg injury from his time as an Auror, causing him to walk with a limp, Mr and Mrs were not going to fill Potter Manor with the noise and life that it needed to feel less like a museum and more like a home again.

So while James and Sirius (who, at this point in this tale, is a Potter in everything but name) were out the house, doing who knew what with their two friends, Peter and Remus, the Potters were looking for ways to fill up their house again; give it back some of the life that had been lost so recently. Mrs Potter thought that this should come in the terms of extravagant parties and social gatherings. It didn't matter who it was to Mrs Potter; as long as there were a lot of people there, filling up at least two of the rooms, her work was done. She was the epitome of the social butterfly, fluttering between the various social groups, hosting and entertaining everyone who passed through the double doors, whether or not they had been welcomed by house elf.

Mr Potter didn't mind, for the most part. He didn't take part in these social events, at least not to the extent his wife did. He would be there at the beginning, to be shown around, and shown to be supporting his wife. But then, as she inevitably got dragged into conversations with someone or other, he retired to his study, where he could read the Daily Prophet happily, the background noise letting him relax and feel like he really was at home.

Of course, as these social events were occasionally very pure-blooded events, with both Mr and Mrs Potter coming from pure blooded families, where the lineage could be traced back to at least the muggle Middle Ages, James Potter was expected to attend the events occasionally. He was there as the Potter heir, the person who would head the Potter family when his father passed away. And although it didn't seem like that would happen any time soon, seeing as Mr Potter was rather healthy, if you ignored his persistent leg injury, young Mr Potter was 17, and therefore an adult in the eyes of the Ministry of Magic. Anything that James did wrong at these social events would be taken against the Potter family as a whole, not just James, which meant that James had to show up every time his mother was hosting other pure bloods, however much the other families, the Malfoys, the Blacks, the Greengrasses and the Bones' to name but a few, annoyed him.

Fortunately for the young Mr Potter, though, there were very few of these events in the summer between his sixth and seventh year at Hogwarts, so he could spend much of his time out of the empty house. Instead he, along with Sirius, Peter and Remus, gallivanted around both magical and muggle London that summer. They knew that the next year, when they had taken, and hopefully passed, their NEWTs, and graduated Hogwarts, these opportunities wouldn't be open for them. They would be working, or training for work, and wouldn't have as much free time. If the Potter's stories were true, which was incredibly likely as they are both very honest people, the little free time they would have in the couple of years after graduating would be taken up with either more work, to look like a valuable employee, or sleep; trying to recover from the excessive workloads. And this would be true for most wizarding careers; Mrs Potter spent 5 years at the Daily Prophet as nothing more than a coffee girl, but her hours were longer than the hours of any of the reporters. But that is going off on a tangent, and Mrs Potter's life at the Daily Prophet doesn't matter in this story, as this is not a story about her life. It is not really a story about any one individuals life, but rather how many different lives are tied together, some obviously, others not so. Even so, Mrs Potter doesn't play a large role in this tale, and now we need to return to the tale.

This story could be started at many different times during that summer, and there are certainly enough events to make it seem worthwhile to start. For example, it could be started with the tale of how Sirius acquired his motorcycle, which was then modified to give it the ability to fly, and ended up as the transport for the so-called Marauders that summer. Or, there was the time at the beginning of the summer when James, at one of the social events that he had been forced to attend, accidentally hexed Lucius Malfoy, two years his senior, with a permanent colour changing charm. At least, James claimed it was an accident, and so far nothing apart from Lucius' word says otherwise. However, events like this were fairly unusual, in that they were interesting events in an otherwise boring month of July. The beginning of August, just before the Hogwarts letters were to be sent out, was when the summer started to pick up for all of the Marauders. And the event that is probably the best place to start this tale would be the 2nd of August, in the Potters ballroom, at another social event organised by Mrs Potter.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Peter really didn't see the point in this. Sure, Mr Potter wanted a word with James about something or other (probably Quidditch. He would pretend it was all important, but Peter was happy to put money on it being which Quidditch game they would both sneak out to see later that week), but that didn't mean that the rest of them had to stay in the manor. And, even if it did mean that they would stay in the manor, as good friends do, it didn't mean that they had to leave James' bedroom. There was more than enough to entertain them in that room. But no. That wasn't enough for Sirius. Of course it wasn't enough for Sirius. He could hear people downstairs in the manor, and Sirius wanted to know who was being entertained today. So there they were, Sirius Remus and Peter all sneaking down through the manor, apparently inconspicuously, to investigate this social gathering. Which would probably just end up being various old ladies discussing knitting, or something equally as boring.

Added to this, Sirius' attempt at being inconspicuous was rubbish. He may have disillusioned himself, but he was moving far too quickly, jumping all over the place, that he could be tracked just through what he left in his wake. Remus, on the other hand, hadn't even needed to disillusion himself to sneak down to the ballroom. But then, no-one else was around, so Peter could walk straight down the hallway, and it wouldn't matter. In fact, at this moment in time, Peter just came to this realisation himself, and, fed up with Sirius' stupid game, proceeded to do so. He may not want to gate crash this stupid party, but he could at least do so without looking like a complete idiot.

"Wormtail. Wormtail. What are you doing? Wormtail. Report, wormtail, return to mission immediately." Sirius really didn't understand that Peter was annoyed at him, but then, Sirius wasn't the most empathetic of people. So, Peter continued walking down the hallway towards the ballroom, with Sirius trailing, still trying to get his attention. Who knew where Remus had gone, but if he was sensible, he would have escaped back to James' bedroom, the safe place in this empty house.

As it was, with Sirius holding his attention by pestering him from behind, Peter arrived at the doors to the ballroom much before he expected to, and went in, just to get away from the hyperactive marauder, who didn't really know the definition of the word 'no'. Although, on the inside, it didn't look much like the Potter's ballroom any more. There was a band, on a newly constructed stage at the front, surrounded by a gaggle of teenagers, screaming louder than the actual music that was being played. But, what Peter wasn't prepared for was the noise. Looking at the scene, it only made sense that it was just so loud in there, but after coming from the corridor, where it was practically silent, Peter could only be amazed at the warding on the ballroom to disguise the sound as much as Mrs Potter had.

There seemed to be around 50 people there in total, all seeming to be teenagers, although the average age was probably closer to 18 than 13. Everyone was trying to get as close to whoever was performing as possible, with odd belongings abandoned around the room. Peter could only assume people had left them there when whoever was performing had started, far too eager to listen to the performance to care about what happened to their stuff. But, after a quick glance, at the clothes and the various technologies that made up the belongings strewn around the ballroom, Peter realised that this was one of Mrs Potter's forays into entertaining muggles. Whoever was playing was probably quite big in the muggle world, and no-one would care if he left again, judging by how absorbed they were with the band playing.

"It's Fleetwood Mac" Well, apart from her, apparently. Peter whirled around at the voice, which turned out to come from the refreshments: a delicious looking spread that Mrs Potter, or more likely the house elves, had put out, to just be ignored in favour of the pop band. The girl who spoke didn't seem to be at home in this concert like atmosphere. She didn't look uncomfortable, but she obviously didn't care about this Fleetwood Mac. "They've been around for quite a while now, but this pop style is new for them. As are some of the members. They used to be more of a rock band, but I actually think this new style suits them better. Not that they are my thing, I'm only here because my sister wanted to come and apparently she couldn't come on her own."

Before Peter could say anything, she walked away to wherever she had been before, well, before he came in. Well, he presumed it was where she had been, there seemed to be a pile of stuff there, including a book which she proceeded to pick up and read. He didn't know what he should do though. His only real knowledge of the muggle world was through his father's parents, but he hadn't spoken to them since he was about 8. To put it bluntly, they didn't like magic. They thought it was wrong, and blasphemous. So, while Peter didn't show any accidental magic, or at least not around them, they accepted him, and spoilt him; were basically proper Grandparents. But, ever since Peter accidentally broke his Grandmother's brooch, he was shunned as his father had been shunned before him. But, it meant that all of Peter's knowledge of actual muggles, and not just muggleborn witches and wizards, came from the little he learnt over 9 years ago. And while Peter may not have been the sharpest knife in the box, he knew that the muggle world would have changed since he was last in it, and everything that he knew would most likely be outdated now, at least with people his own age. So, although Peter could walk away, and it would probably be best if he did walk away, before he messed this up, he wasn't sure he wanted to. Anyway, he wanted to prove to himself that he could do this. At school, with James, Sirius and Remus, everyone thought he was the loser of the group. The marauder that was only a marauder because no-one had the heart to say no to him. They thought he idolised the rest of them, that that he hero-worshipped them and had them on a silly sort of pedestal. That wasn't true, not at all. He wasn't as clever as them, no, but apart from that they were similar. The only thing was that he was shy, and slightly introverted. He wouldn't go up to random people if he could help it, like Sirius did. He wouldn't proposition someone in the middle of the Great Hall at dinner time, as James often did. He wouldn't even be comfortable to be approached by other people, as Remus always was as a prefect. No, Peter was happy being slightly quieter, but full of wit when he was around those he knew and knew he could trust.

So, he didn't understand why he was walking over to that girl, absorbed in whatever she was reading. He had no idea what to say, and knowing that he was going to have to filter everything that he said in case he inadvertently referenced the wizarding culture, where he had lived all his life. But, something pulled him over there, it seemed right that he would talk to her. And, if he was perfectly honest with himself, it was a sun that he had seen in his tea leaves that morning. Divination was a subject that he actually was good at, and that he believed in; maybe this was the great happiness that the sun in his teacup meant this morning.

"So, what sort of music do you like then, if you're not a fan of this Fleetwood Mac?" That was how Peter started off the conversation, that quickly moved on to the musical talents of the Beatles- something he could talk about thanks to his Grandmother having been a massive Beatles fan while he spoke to her. Of course, the whole conversation, with all the awkward silences that come with two slightly introverted strangers talking to each other for the first time. But, that exact conversation is not important in this tale. The only important things that came out of that conversation were that Peter and Deborah (call me Deb, please. I hate the name Deborah. It's so stupid) should become friends, and planned on keeping in touch for the rest of the summer, at least. As they did, but that is skipping ahead in this tale, so we shall continue from when Peter said he had to go back, that his friends would probably be wondering where he was.

"So, is this your house then? So I know where to go if I get bored at home again?"

"No, it's James' place. I'm not even here that often, we were just off to, erm- yeah, we were just headed out for a bit. I don't even live round here, I'm just staying over for a bit to, err, get out the house. Yeah, boarding school- you have friends all-round the country. But, yeah, we'll need to go, so I better go find them. Yeah." With that, Peter all but ran out of the room, to get back to the rest of his friends before he actually said something like how he doesn't actually know where James lives, only his floo address, when Deb obviously doesn't even know what a floo is.

Standing outside the ballroom, in the entryway where the pictures of the Potter family had all been frozen whilst there were muggles in the house that would come through the entry way, Peter just breathed. Tried to stave off the panic attack that threatened to blow up if he actually dwelt on what had just happened. Instead, he turned around to the grand staircase, to head back to James' room, where the rest of the marauders would hopefully be, so that they could get out of the house, head to muggle London, and basically just run away from Deb (lovely, sweet, quiet, muggle), so that he didn't ruin anyone's life.

After Peter had gone into the ballroom, after refusing to play his game anymore, Sirius thought that what they had been doing may have been slightly stupid. Not that he would actually admit it out loud. Sirius never changed his mind like that, thank you very much. But, when Peter had opened that door, and broken the wards for those few seconds, Sirius decided a muggle concert wasn't for him today. Because, even in those few moments, Sirius recognised the chorus of one of his favourite Fleetwood Mac songs. Not that he actually like the band, he only really started listening to muggle bands on the record player he bought to annoy his parents whenever he was house. Now that he was never there anymore, he didn't need to listen to the records as loudly or as much as he had, but some songs had grown on him, like this one had. Not that he actually liked the band, it was just one of those songs.

Fully expecting Peter to come scrambling back out of the ballroom imminently, as there was no way that this would be his sort of music. Peter liked more gentle music than this, music that you couldn't really go to a concert for. Not a concert with music that loud, at least. So, when Sirius realised all of this, he turned around, so he wouldn't have to deal with a pissed off Peter. As quiet as he was around other people, he was always happy to give James and Sirius a piece of his mind.

So, Sirius disappeared to head back to his own room in this house, where no-one would remember to look for him, hopefully. Remus had probably escaped to the library, the place where he felt most comfortable. Not that books were everything to him, but since he was turned at age 5 he learnt that books could always be trusted not to judge you. As much as some people _said_ they were happy for you, that they trusted you, that they were perfectly comfortable with you, most of the time those were lies. At this point in the tale, there were only five people that said were perfectly comfortable about him being a werewolf, and that he completely believed. Books though, they didn't change their mind, or go back on their word half way through. Even if they had an opinion that you didn't agree with, it was obvious from the start, and it was something you knew from the beginning.

The thing was, whenever Remus managed to escape to the library, either here, or at Hogwarts, it was rather hard to get him to leave again. So, Sirius knew that, even if Peter went there to get Remus to help him find Sirius, it would be a while before anyone found him. He would say that he had about half an hour before he was found. And by then, Peter would be far less pissed off, and they could just move passed it, carry on.

But, until then, Sirius would have to find a way to entertain himself. Again. Something which had led to him making Peter pissed at him last time. There was nothing in his room which could entertain him now. The map was in James' room, somewhere Peter would be sure to go straight away. He wasn't in the mood to plan anymore pranks, he could not be bothered to do any school work- he was in no way that bored. He could write to Marlene, or Jen, or Daisy, or someone, but that required him to actually think, remember what his relationship with each one was like. And he couldn't think like that at the moment. So, collapsing on his bed to while away the time seemed to be the only option available for him. It was just a lucky coincidence, really, that sleeping was something that he enjoyed.

Just like Sirius thought, Remus had gone to the library, but he wasn't actually reading this time. IT was just that Remus enjoyed the comfort of being in a library, the smell of the books and the comfy chairs that the Potter's have in their library. It was lucky, really, that the library was such an important room in the Potter household. There wasn't a library in the Lupin household, they were nowhere near rich enough to be able to afford a house large enough with a suitable library space. And, even if his mom or dad charmed a room to appear, which they could use as a library, they still couldn't afford any extra books to put in there, to make it into a proper library. It's not that the Lupin family were poor; rather that having a werewolf as a son made some things slightly harder for them, and therefore more expensive than if it was something like Mrs Potter asking.

So, Remus had come here, just to be able to smell what trust smelt like to him, and put his mind at ease a bit. His father was getting more and more stressed at work, the stigma of having an animal as a child making work even harder, especially since soon that animal would be finished with school, and be expecting a job in the normal world. How dare he raise the animal like that, teaching it that it was the same as anyone else, when it was nothing more than a wolf, and was as savage as a wolf too. His mother had no opinion on the matter anymore. She barely spent any time at home, if she could help it. She pretended to support him, whenever it was socially expected, but apart from that, Hope Lupin didn't inspire any hope in her only child.

It turned out that it was James who would be forced to go and round up all of his friends and comrades. After Mr Potter had finished talking with him, on a matter that was neither important nor urgent, and therefore does not really matter nor contribute to this tale, he went back to his bedroom, expecting the rest of the marauders would be there. His room would probably be ruined, but it was nothing that a couple of cleaning and repairing charms couldn't resolve. But, when he flung open his doors to an empty room, he wasn't really too surprised. Apparently, even James' bedroom was too boring for the excitable marauder. Which meant that they would all be spread out around the house, and the house was plenty big enough for them to get lost in.

But, he hadn't lived with the three of them for 6 years and not learnt anything about them. Remus would have found his way into the library most likely, so there was no reason to look for him just yet. So, it would be Sirius and Peter entertaining themselves- James just needed to follow the chaos if it was just those two. Although, actually, it didn't sound as if the house's foundations were shaking to the core just yet. Which must mean that even those two have split up, for some reason or other. _Probably one is pissed at the other. Why they always antagonise each other so much, it's beyond me._ James shook his head, rolling his eyes. Yes, he was a marauder at heart, which pretty much was synonymous for being a child at heart, but he liked to think that he was sensible enough to not antagonise people just for the sake of it. At least, most of the time.

Anyway, if they were arguing about something, or just ignoring each other, then Sirius would have retreated to his room. Sirius thought that the rest of the marauders forgot that he actually lived at Potter Manor now, and had his own room there. It was annoying, but at least it meant that he was easy to find.

With that, James turned on his heel out of his room, down the corridor to the second door on the left. When he had moved in, Sirius had said he would be further down the corridor so that he didn't keep James up at night. Not that much had happened on that front yet, but there was still a month until they would be back at Hogwarts. James thought it was more of Sirius making a point: they were young, fit and should be living it up, rather than 'pining over a temperamental prude who doesn't even ACKNOWLEDGE you'. James knew, though, that he would manage to get the girl, he'd been trying for two years. Didn't they say that three's the charm? Or that three was the magic number? Lily was muggleborn- she would know these things, maybe they would make her laugh. _Actually, that wouldn't be a bad idea to try. Hmmm…That might be a good place to start next time, yeah… I should put it in my book._

See, James had a little book, full of notes to himself, things to remember, and loads of different ideas for asking Lily Evans out, so that she wouldn't flat out reject him for once. Of course, that hadn't actually happened yet, or what would this tale be about? But, anyway, this book was kept under lock, key and many different wards; there was the slight possibility that James could be teased mercilessly for some of the things that he had written in there. Mainly by Sirius, and mainly about one Miss Lily Evans (Potter).

But, there wasn't time to go and find his little book now, James needed to find his friends before they wrecked his house in an attempt to wreck each other, or something like that. And the only idea he had to find any of his friends was that Sirius was probably in his bedroom, lying on his bed simultaneously moping and plotting. Something which he is rather good at. There was no point in knocking Sirius wouldn't hear, and even if he did hear, he wouldn't respond. So James just walked in, wand out, shield already up, prepared for anything Sirius could have prepared to throw at him, or Peter.

Which turned out to be Sirius' entire stash of cauldron cakes. Something that Sirius, Peter and Remus all loved, but James himself didn't care that much for. He could devour packs of chocolate frogs at a time, but cauldron cakes were just a bit too heavy for him to happily eat a lot of. But if Sirius was willing to give Peter all of his cakes something serious must be up.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, don't kill me mate, come on Wormy, don't hate me, I didn't know, swear, promise. Marauder swear! Honest, I had no idea mate, I was just bored and I thought-" Sirius was talking a mile a minute, but he still didn't seem to have realised that it was James, and not Peter, that had opened his door in the first place. Well, not until he felt the cauldron cakes that he had thrown at James being thrown back at him, and actually colliding this time thanks to a lack of shield on Sirius' part.

"James! Oh, Prongs mate, Wormy's gonna kill me. See, we were bored, so I thought we should try and find out what your mom was hosting today, but then Wormy got pissed at me, Moony had disappeared off somewhere, and then Wormy went inanditwasmugglesplayingpopwhichhehatessohe'sgonna KILL ME Prongs. My life is literally in DANGER right now mate." Sirius was getting more agitated, talking louder and faster, as if he thought it would help him somehow with his predicament. "Any minute now, Wormy is gonna FLY through that door, POUNCE on me and KILL ME BECAUSE I AM THE WORST MATE EVER! I mean, why shouldn't he. I have literally led him to his death, so why can't he cause mine? It's only fair. I'm DEAD Prongs, DEAD!" This was finished by a rather dramatic slump back onto his bed, from where Sirius had been pacing beside it during his sort of rant. Sirius was known for his dramatics, but even this was a bit over the top for him.

"So why hasn't he yet then, Pads?"

"Huh?"

"Wormy. If he is going to kill you, as you are so sure, why am I talking to my best mate, rather than his corpse?"

"Huhhh?"

"Pads. Wormy is still wherever you left him. If he hated it as much as you thought he would, why is he still there?"

"Huhh- wait! I might be able to save this! See, all you need to do is place some records in with his stuff, Fleetwood Mac, then I'll just say I thought he liked them and we'll all be cool! No dead Pads, eh mate?"

"No. Look, Padfoot, Wormy is obviously happy being a part of whatever my mom's hosting right now, so we might as well go pick up Moony, head down to the ballroom and just see what happens. If he hates you, he hates you. If he doesn't, he doesn't. Simple as that. And-"

"But-"

"Before you say anything, I will not help you. I am not dealing with an angry Wormy today mate-"

"What about-"

"-and neither will Remus, before you even think about it" James hated being all serious and sensible, it was something that the prefects like Remus were, and not something that pranksters like the Marauders were. But, desperate times call for desperate measures, as they say. _Hmm, could that work? Desperate times call for desperate measures? I might be able to fashion it into something spectacular, in a whole, take my breath away sort of thing. Yeah, plan two if the three thing doesn't work._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

As it turned out, Remus wasn't too bothered at having to leave the Potter library. He had got his book smell fix for the day, he would just be back there again tomorrow, one of those books looked really interesting '_Taming the wild- Veelas, werewolves and Vampires in work_'. He knew that he wouldn't be able to take any of the supposed true stories in there seriously, but at least it might be able to help him a bit in applying for jobs this year. He was happy at Hogwarts because he could be happy at Hogwarts. People didn't know there, so they weren't scared and they didn't treat him differently. At work, well, who knew?

So after letting Remus leave the book out in his favourite nook in the library, three quarters of the Marauders trekked across to the Ballroom, which is the other side of Potter Manor. Sirius started getting jumpier, still convinced that Peter would start yelling at him. But when they found the fourth Marauder, not quite running up the stairs, James shoved Sirius to Remus (who grudgingly held him back so that he wouldn't say anything wrong) before turning Peter around. Just to be on the safe side.

"Are we ready to go then now, guys?" They were all seventeen, had received their apparition licenses, and since they were all keyed into the wards, they were able to apparate from anywhere in the house. James just wanted them out the house and into muggle London as quickly as possible. The faster they were out the house, the less likely Peter was to blow up at Sirius. Just to stay on the safe side.

Of course, they were all ready to apparate. Peter wasn't annoyed, just nervous, and Sirius was always eager to explore muggle London some more. Especially when he had all the pretty girls flirting with him. He thought it was good fun, and it always made him feel better, knowing people could fancy him after seeing him for only 10 seconds.

"Same place as always then?" With everyone nodding, they all apparated to a little alleyway that they had found on one of their first excursions around muggle London. It was quite dark, but also fairly close to some big muggle building that everyone seemed to look at. Just the right mix of busy and empty that made it safe for apparition, Remus thought. And while Moony was a Marauder, happy to prank as the rest of them were, Remus was a sensible prefect who thought about these things, and could always be trusted to actually think everything through, as it was needed. So while Sirius complained sometimes, that he acted more like Remus than Moony most of the time, it wasn't really a bad thing. Not in the long run.

They arrived with varying amounts of stability. Remus landed pretty much perfectly, but then he was the oldest out of them all and had been qualified for longest. Peter stumbled, as was his way, but he didn't have balance naturally so the stumble turned into him tripping over his own feet and falling over. James stumbled a bit when he landed, too, but the years that he had spent on the Gryffindor Quidditch team as chaser, and then lead chaser, had taught him some grace, and he managed to regain his balance again rather than falling over as Peter did. Sirius, on the other hand, Sirius was hopeless. Although his birthday was relatively early in the school year, he had failed to get his apparition licence the first two times he took his test, and had actually only passed on the first day of the summer holidays. And the rest of the marauders thought that was a fluke. Even though he had finished leaving body parts around, he still managed to arrive at his destination completely differently to how he left. That was to say, although he was standing up when he apparated away from Potter manor, he arrived in the alley already in a heap on the ground.

"So, pads, my man, how much does it cost to bribe the ministry to give you a licence? I'm thinking of buying one for little Nymphadora, I'm sure it'll make a great birthday present!" James was quick to mock Sirius, as he always had been.

"Ha ha, very funny. Maybe you should use your money to buy a present for Miss Evans, rather than just embarrassing yourself with your current attempts to woo her." Sirius had picked himself up, and was brushing off the street dirt in an attempt to make himself look slightly respectable. Only slightly, mind you, otherwise no-one would want to talk to him.

"Yeah, maybe then we wouldn't have to pry the map out of your possession, because you will actually be with her, rather than just crazy stalking her." Peter was off the floor too, and considerably less dirty and more put together than Sirius too. "Then, maybe we could go back to spending most of our time pranking, not mooning after our favourite prefect."

James looked suitably shocked at that, but he knew that it was true. His sixth year had been spent trying to woo the beautiful Miss Evans, and the Prewett brothers had come close to stealing their crown as the school pranksters. Close, but nowhere near as good enough as the legendary marauders. Although it had made James realise that they had not done nearly enough pranking in the first half of the year, if two third years came close to taking the crown off four sixth years.

He had made one success with the enigma that was Miss Evans in sixth year, though, and that was she had stopped insulting him every time he said anything to him, although now she just ignored him unless he was relentless, and then she would insult him. But, it was progress. Definitely progress.

"Yeah, well, just because I have standards? What are yours, Pads? Pretty and can talk so that she can big up your ego?"

"No, I mean, she has to be hot, not pretty, mate. Pretty just doesn't cut it anymore, man. Nott is pretty, you have to admit it, but there is no way she is hot, and no way she is on my list."

Of course, trust Sirius to take that as an invitation to plan his next conquest. He was a good boyfriend to all his girlfriends, never cheating and always buying presents. He was almost the perfect boyfriend. He just never lasted long, quitting before it ever got too serious.

"You actually have a list? Oh man, you will be royally screwed if a girl ever finds that, you know." Trust Remus to have picked up on the fact that he had a list, rather than he had had so many girlfriends that there could be a list. Book smart, he was, that was undeniable. But he wasn't the most socially smart person, often getting lost in conversations, or latching onto the wrong end of the stick.

"Nah, I'll be fine. I'll say it's Wormy's or something."

"Hey? Why me? Why not Moony?"

"At least you didn't think of saying that it would be mine."

"Yeah, Prongs. Everyone in the whole school, even old Dumbles, knows that you are desperately in love with Miss Evans. I'm sure everyone would believe me if I said to them that you had a list of the hottest girls in the school."

"You have a point there, Pads. There's no way that Evans will go out with me if she thinks I'm pining after half the school."

Remus was just ignoring them, especially since it sounded like Sirius and Peter were now advising James on how to actually get a date with Miss Evans in their seventh and final year at Hogwarts. Because 'if you don't do it this year mate, you're gonna be a virgin for the rest of your life. And that is not the sort of person I will accept as my best bro, not even one of my bros. So buck up, or you're out, little man.' Of course, that was Sirius' take on the situation, at least a summary of it, but it was in fact Peter who brought up the idea that James would die a virgin if he didn't score that year. Of course it was Peter; while Sirius' mind was as equally dirty, Peter was the one who would always rejoice in seeing the other two squirm.

**A/N:**

So, here is the prologue and the first two chapters. I will try to put up a new chapter every week, probably on the Saturday/Sunday. I hope you like it. ;)


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: So, I forgot this last time, but_

_Disclaimer: I am not J K Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter (Unfortunately...) or any of the characters that you recognise..._

Chapter Three

After Sirius and Peter had finished embarrassing James, and he no longer looked like an overly ripe tomato, they realised that Remus had stopped; chosen the place for them to stop, at least for now. Well, those things actually happened simultaneously, with Remus stopping causing them to finish their mental torment of James, as they almost fell on top of Remus as well. James avoided the same outcome, but that was only luck.

They were in the middle of Hyde Park, in muggle London. It was early evening, so too early to go out clubbing just yet, but too late to enjoy muggle London as muggle tourists. Most of them would be back in their hotel rooms at that time, or getting ready for their evening activities. The Londoners were still out in force, though, with nowhere that they needed to go just yet. The teenagers and young adults who had the summer to themselves to enjoy it however they wanted to. It was the group of people that the marauders fell into, at least in the way that they were young adults with nowhere to go, at least not just yet.

"So, then. What's the plan tonight, guys?" Sirius thought of himself as their leader of sorts, at least when they were acting as a group. The others didn't mind, and humoured him most of the time. Occasionally he would be outrageous, but for the most part he was an acceptable wannabe leader.

"We went clubbing last night, so I'm saying no to that again tonight."

This was followed by an immediate dose of Sirius' puppy dog eyes for Remus. Something that he was surprisingly not bad at, although that might be linked to the fact that his animagus was a dog- some traits seemed to slip between the two forms. At least, that was James' theory.

"Nuh-uh. No way, not tonight. We went clubbing last night, and the night before. Why can't we just go somewhere else this time?"

"Yeah, but what else is there for us to do? We're adults, for Merlin's sake! Why shouldn't we go clubbing?"

"Because I don't want a hangover tomorrow morning, maybe? Because I don't want to deal with you drunk again today?"

"Yeah, I mean, pads, you are a really flirty drunk, like, hitting on every girl in the club. Even if they have boyfriends. Or fiancés."

"Yeah, well, that's the fun of it. And not my fault if I'm just so much hotter than whoever they're with."

The other three marauders were all just looking at Sirius, as if he didn't really understand what they meant. Which he didn't, but then again, looking at him didn't make the issue any clearer for him. Even with them looking rather pointedly at him, he remained the obtuse Sirius that he always was.

"Okay, so maybe I shouldn't go after the fiancés or the women on hen nights, but everyone else is fair game! I mean, they are at Hogwarts."

"Pads, life lesson here, mate. School isn't like the real world, as much as you want it to be."

"Aargh, fine, no club tonight if it means I can avoid one of Prongs' lectures!" Sirius always thought that he would always have the last say in anything if he really wanted it, but he didn't realise that the other marauders knew exactly what made him tick. Including the fact that a threat of a lecture from James would always shut him up, and if Peter suggested something radical he would be more likely to agree to it than if Remus had suggested the same thing.

"No club tonight, agreed?" With no arguments from any of the marauders, although they were probably as annoyed at a drunk Sirius as he was, he wasn't really expecting any "So, what do we want to do tonight then, guys?"

No-one came up with anything straight away- pretty much all that they had done in muggle London at night had at least involved clubs at some point. But that was not going to happen tonight, not if they could do anything about it. Remus thought that he would enjoy going to the west end, somewhere that was apparently popular with muggles, but they had yet to go there. James would probably be willing to go with him, but Peter would most likely end up being thrown out of the theatre for some reason or other, and Sirius wouldn't go in in the first place. So that was out, really, without it even being brought up.

James was considering going to the cinema. Lily had been mentioning something called Star Wars to her friends on the express at the end of the last term. Not that he had been stalking her, no, of course not. He had just happened to overhear her when he was hovering outside the compartment that she was sharing with her friends. The reason he was hovering outside the compartment, well, that was classified information. But if he managed to watch this Star Wars during the summer, maybe he could talk to her about it when school started up again, and maybe then she would actually talk to him, rather than just ignore him of yell at him.

Peter didn't care what they did, really. He was just thinking about the muggle girl from earlier. Deb, he thought her name was, if he had remembered correctly. He wished that he had asked her for her address, or her full name, or her telephone number, or something so that he could get in touch with her, before he had run out of the ballroom. In hindsight, he realised how nice she had been. She had been an honest sort of person, and they had got on well. Or, as well as they could with her being a muggle and him a wizard who wasn't up to date with muggle popular culture.

Sirius, on the other hand, wasn't thinking anything productive whatsoever. He was trying to figure out where they could go which involved alcohol and girls that he could appreciate, without going to a club, seeing as everyone else had decided to rule that out today. That meant, stripping clubs were out, unfortunately, as were regular clubs, and he didn't think he would be able to convince them to go to a pub, either. They would probably say the same arguments applied: alcohol, girls, drunk Sirius, whatever.

It was a couple of passing muggles that ended up solving their dilemma for them. As is always the way, but it actually was the way, in this case. Well, passing wasn't the right word for it. They came up to the marauders, brandishing tickets as an explanation as to why they were approaching random strangers. Something which wasn't a very British thing to do, ever, really. But the tickets that they had, they were really quite interesting.

"Hey guys! How are the four of you tonight?" the first who spoke was a rather bouncy blonde guy, who could only be in his twenties, he had too much energy to be any older than that. He was practically bouncing on the spot at the prospect of whatever he had to say.

"Errm, alright, I guess?" James wasn't sure whether there was a certain way to answer the question, maybe this was some sort of muggle thing that they just knew. But then, he had to answer. To walk away would have been rude, and he was brought up with manners, thank you very much.

"Alright then! So, any plans for tonight yet guys?" The bouncy blonde continued talking, unaffected by the awkwardness coming off the four marauders. Well, only three of them, really. Sirius was curious, wondering whether this sort of behaviour was acceptable. Because if it was, hell, more girls for him.

"Errm, not yet?" This made the bouncy blonde smile, so James felt that it was at least close to whatever the right answer was. Whatever the right answer was supposed to be.

"Well, that's great! See, we're here to solve all your problems! Literally, all of them."

Remus looked at him at that, because there was no way a muggle could solve all the problems that they might have. They could be the most powerful muggle in the world, and they still wouldn't be able to do that.

"We have some tickets here to the gig that is going to be here later tonight. It's just a small thing, but I assure you that they will blow your. Mind. Away. Right away. You won't even be able to think anymore, let alone speak, after you see them. And all you need are these little tickets." Bouncy blonde waved them then, in a way that he probably thought was teasing, or enticing, or something stupid like that. It wasn't, but they thought they might as well humour him, as they often humoured Sirius.

"So, are you in?" It was the only thing that the ginger had said, but at least he said something normal that didn't have to be deciphered between bouts of giggles and little excited noises that the blonde seemed to be continuously making. As well as bouncing around them, something that the ginger definitely wasn't doing.

"Yeah, of course! What else is there to do?" Bouncy blonde had managed to give some of his excess energy to Sirius, even though making Sirius hyper wasn't a hard feat. They were lucky Sirius wasn't bouncing with the blonde; that he was just sounding rather energetic and excited and, according to Remus, rather stupid.

"Yay. That is so great. Like, really really amazingly great. You will not regret this, guys. Like, seriously. This will be the start of your new life. It is going to change your life forever guys. Literally. No joke-" Bouncy blonde would have probably continued raving about this 'amazing' band that they were going to see, had the ginger not thrust the four tickets at James and started to drag him away. Whether that was because he was getting fed up of him, or whether it was because he had noticed that Sirius was starting to bounce too, well, it could have been either of them. But Sirius starting to act like a five year old couldn't have helped at all. Especially since ginger dragged the blonde away before he could actually tell them where to go for this gig. Okay, so they had said 'here', but they were in Hyde Park at the moment. And, Hyde Park is pretty big.

"A muggle gig, guys. This is like, so awesome. With muggles, and muggle music and muggle drink and muggle chicks and just about muggle everything. This was the best idea ever. Yes!" Sirius punched the air a couple of times during this little monologue of his, and there was nothing that any of the other three could really do without seeming like complete idiots. And they couldn't petrify him, there were too many muggles around. Even if it would make their life so much easier with a Sirius who couldn't run off and embarrass them all.


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Harry Potter or anything you recognise..._

Chapter 4

The Clash. That was the name of the band that they had apparently seen, although they had almost missed it. Because, apparently, by 'here', the two guys who gave them the tickets didn't mean 'here' as in, in the park. But rather, 'here' as in, in London. Obviously. Fortunately, James actually looked at the tickets that had been thrust in his hands, even if it was at ten to seven when he had this brainwave. And the gig started at seven.

"Isn't this place called Hyde Park?" James sounded rather confused when he actually looked at the tickets in his hand, and when he looked up Remus, who was the only one who had actually decided to listen to him (Sirius was actually bouncing now, and Peter seemed to be thinking about something at some depth), who responded to the question with a look and an eye roll.

"No, James. We are not in Hyde Park. The signs all over the place just say 'Hyde Park' for the hell of it, and when we decided to go to Hyde Park earlier, I decided to take us somewhere else instead. Of course we're in Hyde Park you idiot." Sarcasm was a tool that Remus often used, especially on James, who could be rather dense at times.

"Well, we're in the wrong place, then. Because, well, it's supposed to start at seven, and at a place called Marquee Club. And I can't see a club just appearing in Hyde Park any time soon." That got everyone's attention, even snapping Peter out of his thoughts, something that didn't normally happen. At least, not when he was as deep in thought as he was then. Which, admittedly didn't happen often, but it had happened before. Once, twice maybe at a push.

"Of course not, James. Clubs don't just appear out of nowhere, not even in the Wizarding parts where it could hypothetically happen." Remus hadn't clicked exactly what it was that James had said, he was focusing more on the absolutely stupid drivel that James was coming out with. As if clubs could just spontaneously come into being.

"Hang on hang on hang on hang on- WHAT?! Prongs, this was our chance. Our one chance, Prongs, and you have gone and ruined it. Torn it away from us. Shredded the soul of it. There is literally nothing left now; an empty shell. No!" Of course, Sirius had heard that they were in the wrong place, in fact he had stopped listening after that. There was nothing more that he needed to know. What else could they do? The awesome evening/week/summer/life that he was planning would happen from going to this gig just wouldn't happen now. It couldn't. And if it couldn't happen now, then it couldn't happen ever.

And, of course, while he had been saying all that, Sirius had been looking like a total idiot, draping himself across James and Peter, before collapsing melodramatically to the floor, a parody of a religious man praying for strength.

"Look, we can apparate, guys. And we have about ten minutes. I'm sure we'll make it. Isn't being late fashionable, anyway? You're always saying that being late is the best bit, making an entrance or whatever?" Sirius' moods changed faster than the tides at any beach, and with them so did his hobbies, what he liked, anything like that, really. The only certainty was that he would ty and pull a girl. Unfortunately, he often managed to, too. But, then again, there hadn't been as much of that this summer. And he hadn't brought any of them back to Potter Manor, although he probably had somewhere in London to shack up if he needed it. He could afford something like that, at least. Being the most sane helped him like that; at least being the most sane in the eyes of his old Uncle Alphard.

"The Marquee? I think I've heard of that place, though, guys." Peter didn't have a quiet voice, per se, but he knew that if he actually wanted to be heard, he should wait until Sirius had finished ranting. No-one could compete with a ranting Sirius. And, of course, after that Remus started with his whole, trying to hold everything together thing that he did. That was pretty hard to interrupt, too. So, it was just the sensible thing to do, really.

"You have? You have! You, Wormy, are the lifesaver of all of the lifesavers that there might be on this planet. In this galaxy, in this Uni-whatdyacallit. You know, big thing muggles think is the be all and end all or whatever?"

"Universe?" Remus had had enough practice of deciphering Sirius' rambles so that he could decipher them for the rest of the population. James and Peter would help, but they always seemed to be cracking up with laughter every time it happened. And Remus couldn't just leave him like that, could he?

"That's it, Moony! Yeah, universe. You are just the most awesome human being ever, little guy-"

Peter glared at that. Yes, he may be the shortest of the four, but that was because the other three marauders were unusually tall, not that he was unusually short. He was a nice 5 foot 10, thank you very much.

"-but, you are seriously the best human being ever to grace this Earth. I mean, seriously guys, isn't our li-likeable Wormy the best person ever?!" Sirius knew that there were only so many times he could get away with calling Peter little, or short, or anything really that talked about his height, but you couldn't fault him for trying. Almost constantly.

"Yeah, it makes him amazing, Pads. But, the question is, do you remember where the Marquee is, Worms?" James knew that if they didn't manage to get to the Marquee, he would have to deal with a moping Sirius. Which would be alright if he could just go home at the end of the night, but unfortunately home was the same place for both of them. So there would be no escape from a moping Sirius. Which would suck.

"Well, if the girl I was talking to was right, then it should be in Soho? I think? Wardour Street, or something, I think she was saying?" This, of course, had been the girl from earlier, who didn't much like Fleetwood Mac. She had mentioned all her friends were planning on going to a gig that evening at the Marquee, maybe it would be this gig that they were going to. And maybe, just on the off chance, maybe she had found a way to be there too. He thought he might quite like to talk to her again. Maybe. Because she hadn't talked about this gig as if she would have enjoyed it herself, but if she had been in London she would have been roped into going too. So, if she had got back to London, there was the possibility that she would be there too.

"Wardour Street? Any number, or are we just going to hope we find it when we see it?" Of course, when Remus had a plan, or at least part of a plan, he grabbed onto it tight. Because then they would be doing something. And it was mostly alright when they were doing something. Only mostly, but hey, this included Sirius. They could never be 100% certain about anything whenever he was included.

Peter didn't answer, just glared at Remus. Well, glaring wasn't what it really was. There was nothing malicious behind it. But it was no normal look, either. It was Peter's way of saying 'duh, isn't it obvious?'. Because, really, that much would have been a given. If Peter knew any more, wouldn't he have said it in the first place? Rather than leave it for after? He wasn't an idiot, by any mean,s he knew that he might as well tell all, rather than keep some details for himself.

"Okay then, Wardour Street it is? Any idea of where that is, anyone?" This was met by blank stares from everyone. They had never gone into Soho before, instead they tended to stick to the more, well, touristy parts of London. They had never needed to go anywhere like that before, but then, hey, they had never been given tickets to a gig by random strangers before. It was a day of firsts, that day.

Remus rolled his eyes, because, really, who was he to expect that any of them would have the slightest idea of what to do. They had precisely 10 minutes before the gig started, and knowing their luck they were probably the wrong side of London. Yes, they could apparate, but still. They wouldn't be able to apparate directly into the club, there would be finding the club and getting through the people and not losing anyone (cough cough Sirius cough). So, seven didn't sound that possible. But they would still try.

They got there. Of course they got there. The details are a bit boring. I mean, come on, how interesting can Remus asking a random stranger be? Answer- not very. So, why talk about it? He asked, and he got answers. That it was half hour walk, along a main road, and then an almost straight, a left and they would be there. 20 minutes late if they decided to walk. And they couldn't apparate to any part of that walk, if what the stranger said was right in that it was quite a busy walk. Great.

But then, of course they didn't walk. Because, turns out that Sirius had been around there before, a couple of years ago with his family. Why they had been in muggle London, and so blatantly muggle London, he had never asked. No muggles had suffered, somehow, so he had brushed everything to do with that aside and just carried on. So, he managed to get them there, even though they still managed to be about ten minutes late. But ten was better than twenty, and the gig didn't seem to have started yet. Although it was rather busy in the marquee, a crowd forming around the stage, with everyone pushing forwards and drinks getting spilt on random strangers.

That's the end of the boring bit, then. Because, nothing interesting happened then, not really. No arguments, no random strangers being interesting, nothing of importance. But the gig, well, there was a reason that this was included in the interesting things that happened in this summer for the marauders. And it wasn't just because of Fleetwood Mac earlier that meant that 2nd August was a good place to start.

"Okay then, my good men. We are in; we all have this ID stuff, check?" Sirius was back to being in charge, because apparently he was the one who got them there, so everyone should be grateful to him and listen to everything he says. Although the rest of the marauders just nodded, instead of the 'check' that Sirius had wanted. They weren't going to go that far to humour him. "Alright then, I say we split and have some fun. James', day after tomorrow? I believe you have something with the family tomorrow night, don't you Moony?"

"Yeah, sure. Just don't get too wasted Pads, I'm not side alonging you home if you can't manage it on your own, you know." That had happened before, in fact it was something that Sirius tried every time he was wasted and hadn't found anyone that he wanted to pull. Or, at least, that was the reason he gave as to why he hadn't pulled. Whether that was true or not was debatable.

"Hah, too wasted. Yeah right" Sirius didn't wait around for an answer to that, instead charging through the crowd to get to the bar. Because, apparently, no-one would go for a guy if he didn't have some form of alcohol in his hand. James wasn't sure that was true, girls had hit on him and he didn't drink anywhere as much as Sirius, and he never carried his cup around in the way Sirius did. Muggle alcohol didn't taste as good to him as Wizard alcohol. The burn wasn't as burning, and the flavours, well, there weren't any flavours, at least not in comparison. Especially, what they called 'vodka'. That just tasted painful.

Remus shrugged, and headed off to the bar himself, just a different end from Sirius. He didn't want to be forced to play wingman again. That was hard, especially with Sirius' standards in women. And then Sirius' way of talking about women. He never seemed to realise that feminism was big at the moment, and calling them all chicks and birds, well, it wouldn't help him pull.

James joined in with the crowd, trying to get close to the stage. It would hide him from Sirius later, when Sirius would be too drunk to remember that James did not want a one-night stand. That James was desperately in love with Lily, and her playing hard to get last year hadn't changed anything. That the last time there had been an (admittedly true) rumour that James had slept with someone, Lily hadn't even acknowledged him a month, even though he had been asking her out every day in that month. So, for now, it would be best to hide from his normally best mate, and try and get out without him noticing too.

**A/N: another two chapters, this weekend, but from next week onwards there will only be one, although hopefully they will be longer... **


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Harry Potter or anything you recognise..._

Chapter 5

It was Peter who had the best night out of the four of them. Sirius pulled a girl that he ended up ditching before the night was out, because she was too ditzy, even for him. James found out that he really wasn't a punk rocker, and ended up leaving halfway through the set list. Although it had provided him with new ideas for convincing Lily to go out with him. Remus, on the other hand, found out that he was a punk rocker, although that may have been the alcohol talking. Somehow he had been roped into playing some drinking games, and while he wasn't a lightweight, he wasn't that much better.

Peter, though. He had walked into the club with the rest of them, and wanted to walk straight back out again. The gig hadn't even started and it was too loud for him, too busy, too crowded. He didn't like things like this, it made him feel uncomfortable. He had seen Sirius and Remus head over to the bar, but that wouldn't help him at all. Unfortunately for him, he could hold his liquor very well, and while this was normally a good thing back at Hogwarts, where he would end up winning most of the drinking games, all if he was paired with James (James wasn't as good as Peter, but he wasn't far off), but at a club where he felt uncomfortable? He wanted to be drunk beyond drunkness then. James, James who liked pop music and had come to love the Beatles, even though they had split up, had gone straight into the middle of the pit of people. He had guts, James did; there was no way that Peter would be able to convince himself to do that. This was going to be a fun night indeed.

But he couldn't bail this early on. He wasn't about to go back home, where his mom would just fuss over him as she had ever since his father had died. Which had been a couple of years ago. She couldn't cope without him, and thought Peter must think the same, that Peter couldn't bear to be at home without his father. Really, it was because she annoyed him, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her that. So he just avoided her as much as possible, by being in the house as little as possible. If it was between his mother and a club being too loud, he would pick the club any day.

But not at the bar, and not in the middle of all the different people. He wouldn't be able to handle either of those places. But, then, he couldn't stay where he was, looking like a complete and utter loser. That would be stupid, and he wasn't going to do that. He could join the fringes of people, the ones who either couldn't, or couldn't be bothered, to push through everyone to get to the stage. He might enjoy the music, but if not he could leave whenever he wanted that way.

And he was right. This 'The Clash' wasn't a band for him. The music was too loud, and pounding, and the dancing that everyone was doing, well, it could hardly be called dancing, really. He could see James slowly making his way out of the crowd. Not obviously, not in a way that other people would see. It was more that he was letting other people push in front of him, and seemingly accidentally being pushed further out himself. It was clever, and he probably wouldn't stick around for long after he made it out of the crowd. Sirius, on the other hand, was one of the people pushing their way forward, his arm around the waist of a tall blonde girl, happily not-dancing like a drunk guy. Remus, well, he was still off Peter's radar, but that probably meant he was getting fun and pissed at the bar. Good for him. He could get pissed.

It had been around three quarters of an hour at that point, and Peter was beyond bored. Seriously. There was nothing for him to do, and it wasn't like he would just randomly talk to any of these people near him. Talking to Deb earlier had been a fluke, a one in a million. And now that one had happened, it wouldn't happen again. Talking about, well, thinking about Deb made him realise that she wasn't here. So that idea sucked. He still had no idea where he would be able to find her again. She may have only been a muggle, but his mom had married a muggle, and that worked fine. Well, until his dad had died, but there was nothing that magic could have done about that. His dad could have been a wizard, and he still would have died. It's life.

Although, Sirius had moved away from the bar now. He didn't want to get dragged into whatever drinking game Remus was playing, but maybe getting a drink for himself wouldn't be the worst idea. It definitely beat just standing here moping, feeling sorry for himself.

"What's the strongest drink that you've got?" the bar wasn't busy, everyone else seemed too interested in this band to want to drink any more, at least at the moment.

"Not a fan of the clash, huh?"

"You could say that"

"Well, why'd you come then? If it's not your sort of thing?"

"My friends insisted, who was I to say no?" It was Peter's go to excuse whenever he ended up talking to some random strangers about why he wasn't enjoying himself whenever they went out. And these random strangers did tend to be the bar people.

"That sort, huh? Well, I don't think I could give you anything to make this sound good. How easily do you get drunk?"

"Unfortunately for me, not very." Peter rolled his eyes at the situation then, there was nothing else that he could say. He could drink two, three bottles of Firewhiskey and he wouldn't even feel the slightest bit tipsy. At that point, even James would be making a fool out of himself. Well, three rather than two, but still.

The bar tender smiled almost sympathetically at him, as if he understood somehow. Although that was probably because he had seen something like this play out many times before. He just turned around, grabbed a glass and started filling it with various spirits from behind the bar.

"It's my special. For those who can hold their liquor, but don't really want to. I can't promise you'll get wasted, but everyone else before you has at least got tipsy from the glass." It looked like Whiskey, or something, Peter thought. He was fairly familiar with muggle alcohol; while his dad had integrated with wizarding world in every other way, he still thought muggle drinks were far superior to their wizarding counterparts. But, his dad had never drunk that much whiskey in one go, so it looked promising in that respect, at least.

"Thanks, man. How much is it?" Peter had a sniff, and it smelt alright. Very strong on the whiskey, but hopefully it would get him on the way to being drunk.

"I'll see how drunk you get from it. If you stay sober, it's free. And you would ruin my run of getting everyone at least slightly drunk."

"Well then, to seeing how much this helps." Peter picked up the glass then, in a mock cheers, before downing the drink in one. Being able to drink as much as he wanted without getting drunk had meant that he was very practised in drinking quickly. It was good, though. Whiskey to start, then it seemed to mellow out, before the kick of vodka at the end. And rather strong vodka at that, if the kick was anything to go by.

The barman had moved on then, presumably to come back for the money later, when Peter would be as drunk as he was going to get. Because he still felt pretty sober at the moment. Yep, no difference just yet. Although, the band had started to play a slower song, so maybe he would at least be able to appreciate them for a while, before they went back to the punk stuff they were playing before.

He had just turned around, back to the stage when a mass collided with his left shoulder. Quite a forceful mass too. Peter turned around, ready to have a go at whoever that had been, but his anger was cut short when he realised exactly who it was that had decided he was a wall or something.

"Worms! My man! I was just, err, talking about you. And how you are truly the best person that I know right now." Sirius was draped all over Peter, but it was worse than usual. Most of the time, or at least when he was sober, Sirius would give at least some room, but obviously the alcohol meant that he couldn't' stand up properly. At least, Peter hoped that was what it was.

"Yeah, he was saying how you might as well be the king of the universe. And everything. Literally, everything." This was the blonde girl who was hanging off Sirius, in a way similar to how Sirius was hanging from Peter. And, if Peter wasn't mistaken, this was the girl that had gone with Sirius onto the dance floor earlier. Which meant they would probably end up leaving together too, if they had lasted this long already.

"Right, that's nice of you man-"

"And I was just saying, you should come out and dance with us. This music is so good to dance to. Well, not what's playing right now, but hey, drink break!"

The blonde cheered then; she had to be as drunk as Sirius to do that in public. There was no way that she couldn't be.

"Well, you see-"

Just then the nice, slow song ended, and they moved back into the stuff that had been playing earlier. The loud music that made Peter want to tear his hair out. And still did, really, the alcohol hadn't helped there.

"New song. Come on babe." The blonde tugged Sirius back onto the dance floor then, but unfortunately Sirius was still holding onto Peter, so he was tugged along behind him. Straight to the front, where a mini dance area had started to happen.

"Look guys, new person!" That was all the warning that Peter had before he was pushed into the sea of people that were dancing. Of course, they immediately swallowed him up into the dancing mass, and there was no way that he was going to get out of there soon. The easiest way out would be to dance to the outskirts, without Sirius noticing him hopefully.

As if that would actually work. A girl with short hair which was bright pink, a nose ring and various piercings up and down her ears came up to him, and just started dancing with him. Well, more like dancing for him. Again, if this could be called dancing. She had just grabbed his arm and started punching the air with it, something that made him feel rather self-conscious due to his sobriety. When he still didn't really respond in any way, she just jumped onto his back and took over from there. Perfectly happy with it herself.

"Errm, hi?"

"It's Beth!" She was practically yelling, down his ear unfortunately, seeing as that was where her head was.

"Yeah, hi Beth. I'm Peter"

"Ya what?"

"Peter" he yelled. That must be the way to communicate in here, then.

"Ya don't mind, do ya?"

"Course not. Why though?"

"Reminded me of my friend. She'd be as uncomfortable as you!"

She climbed down then, but didn't leave him alone. Admittedly, Peter was punching the air on his own now, so she probably felt like he didn't need her guidance any more, but Peter was grateful. She was heavier than she looked, especially since he wasn't that strong. His animagus was a rat, for god's sake. That's not a strong animal!

"Yeah, not my scene." They didn't have to yell as much now, fortunately. Maybe there was hope for his ears after all.

"You'd be good with her actually. Where'd ya live?" She had wrapped herself around him then, trying to sell her friend to him, in some way.

"South west"

"How far from Bristol?"

"Hour maybe?"

"Yeah, you'll do fine for Deb."

"I will?"

"Yeah, here" she thrust a piece of paper in his pocket then, presumably one with her friend's number on. At least, he hoped it was. If it was hers, well, he wouldn't be ringing it. She seemed nice enough, but her taste in music kind of made her lose a few points in Peter's eyes.

She left him then, vanishing back into the crowd as easily as anything. When he was looking at everyone else in the mob of dancers, Sirius caught his eye, with an eyebrow wiggle from him. Presumably, he thought that Peter was pulling. Even though he already had a girlfriend.

Peter just shook his head, and headed back to the bar. He had to tell the barman, anyway, that his drink had worked. At least he thought it had worked. He wouldn't have been able to cope with that if he was 100% sober. He wasn't good with new people, not without some inhibitions being lowered.

"So, how much are you going to have to pay me?" the barman was there. As if he wouldn't be there. He would want to know how much he was making, and whether his run was broken or not.

"Tipsy. I wouldn't say more than that, but I'm pretty sure I'm not sober."

"Good, good. Third tipsy, not bad. That'll be a quid, then." He held his hand out, waiting for the money. Onto which Peter dropped a pound note. He quite liked the notes that the muggles had, it was easier to find the money, and store it really. Coin bags could be quite annoying sometimes. Especially whenever something cost a lot of money, and it was to be paid in coins rather than out of the vault.

"Thank you. Will you be off now then? I mean, I'm pretty sure I see someone's number there." He gestured towards Peter's pocket then, where the tip of the piece of paper hadn't gone in fully.

"Yeah, maybe. We'll see." Peter smiled wryly then, before turning and leaving. He wasn't going to go home, but he was going to head to the nearest phone box, to see if this number was worth anything. Not that he thought anyone would be awake at this time- it was nearing midnight. But, well, he didn't want to go home, not just yet. He wasn't sure it was late enough that his mother would have gone to bed, just yet.

Do I need to tell you about Peter's walk to the phone box? I hope not. He found one, put the money in and dialled the number. It rang, and he was about to give up, before someone picked up.

"Hi, is this Deb?"

There was a pause, then, where she didn't answer. And Peter didn't know why he was doing this. Why he was actually calling a random stranger because her friend, who was also a random stranger, thought they would work well together.

"Look, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called-"

"Yes. Did a pink haired girl give you the number? While you were at a punk rock band?"

"Well, yeah…" Peter was fiddling with the phone cord, then. This girl, Deb, (not the Deb from earlier, it couldn't be. She'd gone, and he'd stupidly let her) was talking to him now, he couldn't just hang up on her. That would be rude, and mean, and wrong. He at least thought that he was a gentleman.

"And my guess is that you don't like punk rock?"

"No, although I only found that out today."

"I am so glad I'm not in London right now, or she would have set me up with everyone in that club, probably. The Marquee, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" He wasn't sure. It sounded like it could be, but that would just be wishful thinking. And hard to take if it wasn't true.

"Okay, then. I'll tell her you called, thank her and do all that. I'll try not to talk too badly of you. I'm sorry about her, by the way. She is rather, well, outgoing, I suppose."

"You can say that again." Peter thought that that was the best way of saying it. Nicest and least rude or offensive.

"Alright then, bye-"

"No, wait, before you hang up." He had to ask. He couldn't just leave it without saying anything. He did want to know, even if it turned out that they were different Debs. He wasn't up to date with muggles, Deb could be a common name, now.

"Go on. I'll give you a minute."

"Were you at a kind of mini Fleetwood Mac gig thing earlier today? Is that why you weren't in London?"

"How do you know that? Only my family know that, I couldn't' tell my friends, they would have mocked me way too much."  
"Okay, let's start this again."

"Again. Wait, you're confusing me now, whoever you are. Actually, who are you?" She sounded confused, but slightly hopeful, too. Maybe she was the right Deb.

"Hi Deb, it's Peter."

They spent a good couple of hours talking after that. Peter kept feeding coins into the payphone so that it wouldn't cut them off, so they could keep talking. They spoke about everything from why Peter was in London at a punk rock gig ('my friends. Apparently they thought it would be a good idea'), to Deb's weird punk rocker friend ('she's harmless, mostly. She just doesn't believe that I don't want a boyfriend right now'). They talked about Bristol ('it's nice. I mean, I hope I don't stay here forever, but it was a good place to grow up'), school ('I'm going into my last year in September, and I don't really want to leave. Boarding makes it like a family') and their future plans ('I want to keep studying. I doubt I'll be able to, I'm not clever enough, but that's what I want to do with my life'). They were nearing the end of the conversation, given that it was early morning at this point, before the idea of relationships came up.

"So, you do know that she thought you would be a good boyfriend for me, don't you? That was the reason that she gave you this number."

"Yeah, I kinda thought it would be something like that. Look, I'm sorry, but I can't do that. Not now, at least."

"Why not? I mean, you have actually met me."

"Yeah, I know, it's just that I kinda have a girlfriend already."

"You don't sound so sure about that to me, Pete."

"Well, it's a long story. And a hard story. And it makes me sound like a jerk. Well, not really, but it is definitely the jerkiest thing I've done."

"Try me. You never know."

"Okay then. So. Fifth year, we had the big exams. You know, O levels?"

"Yeah? Whoah, you are clever. I only did about three O levels, I wasn't clever enough to do more than that."

"Yeah, they push us at our school. So, it was about January, and I was struggling, so my friend set me up with a girl. He thought I needed to relax, and that is his way of relaxing. So, he set me up with this really clever girl, and she was nice. I could go on a few dates with her. Nothing serious, just a bit of fun. Then she said we could do study sessions as dates; studying was important to her. So we did, and I learnt so much. So, we kept dating, and by the exams, well, I'm pretty sure the only reason I got the grades I got was her. So, sixth year, last year, I thought I'd study myself. And I'd figured out how to do it. So it got to around Christmas and I thought I'd break up with her. It was never serious, just a school romance. I thought mid-January was a good time. Enough after Christmas, but not near Valentine's Day. But then, the week came and I couldn't do it. She's too sweet and kind and honest and I will break her heart. I can't figure out how to let her down gently. And it was thanks to her that I passed my exams. How could I just go and dump her now? So, we're still dating, but I still want to break up with her, and I still can't figure out how."

"And, this makes you a jerk how, exactly?"

"Well, I used her. And now she's not helping me anymore, I don't need to use her anymore, I just want to ditch her. Isn't that what a jerk does?"

"No. Because that's not what it is. Not really."

"It isn't?"

"No. You idiot. I'd explain now, but, well, it's two o' clock now, and a two o' clock I don't see that often. So, you have my number, obviously. Call me again tomorrow, or, well, today, at a more sensible time. When we are normally awake. Then we can talk it through properly, huh? Good idea?"

Peter smiled, and caught himself nodding his head, as if Deb could see him. Which she couldn't. Phone calls weren't like floo calls, you couldn't see each other; it was voice only. Whenever he had to phone any of the muggles he knew, it was always something he forgot.

"Yeah, later today. It'll probably be about three, maybe four? Is that okay with you?"

"Talk to you then, Pete."

"You too." Peter was smiling; the past couple of hours had been alright. Better than he thought they would be. The hang up tone was sounding in his ear, but it was alright. Because he had found her again, and it wouldn't mean that he would have to talk to Mrs Potter about it. She might not even have known who Deb was. She didn't care who she let into her house, as long as there were people and they were happy.

But, now, he had a phone call to make later, and it was late enough that his mother must be asleep by now, so it was as good a time as any to return home. It had been a good night, in the scheme of things.

**A/N: Next chapter, and a longer one this time! Yay! I hope you enjoy it :)**

**See you next week**


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Harry Potter or anything you recognise..._

Chapter Six

When Sirius woke up the next morning, he really regretted drinking as much alcohol as he had. Not because of the hangover, there was a potion he could take for that. And not because of the, well, what he could only assume was vomit surrounding his bed. A quick scourgify was solve that little problem. No, he regretted the amount of drink he ingested the previous night because now he had no clue as to exactly where he was. Or who he must have gone home with last night. Assuming he had gone home with someone, seeing as there was no-one else in the bed with him. If it was even a bed. Considering how uncomfortable he was right now, he wasn't so sure that he was sleeping on an actual bed.

"BOO!" the noise shocked Sirius, he wasn't ready for the volume yet. Especially considering he hadn't yet found a hangover potion yet. Something that he really wanted now. Really wanted before this headache got any worse. Although, this did mean that there was someone else here with him. He could use this to his advantage, probably.

He sat up slowly, then, trying to ease his headache in any way he could. Which wasn't going to be easy, especially considering the room got brighter as he sat up. As if it was the middle of the day. Which it probably was, really. He enjoyed sleeping in when he could, and in summer he could.

The room he was in didn't look overly wizard, but there were a couple of touches hidden around. Things like a couple of issues of the daily prophet tucked into muggle newspapers. A moving picture in the middle of loads of still ones. And an innocuous piece of wood lying on the table next to him. Only it wasn't any old piece of wood, it was a wand. One which he was vaguely familiar with. At least, to the end of it as it was pointed at him threateningly. Well, not threateningly in a bad way; he would always be the cause of it. Because, apparently, threatening him with a wand was the beast way to make sure he didn't run off when he got caught out after curfew at school. According to the ginger prefect.

Hang on, if that was her wand, what was her wand doing here? Probably because she lived here. It would explain all the muggle paraphernalia too- she is a muggle born. But, in that case, how did he end up in Lily Evans' house? He was pretty sure he wouldn't have picked her up last night. However drunk he may have been, she is his mate's girl, even if she won't accept it yet. Which she hasn't for six years, but, hey, she may come to her senses soon. But, still, it made no sense as to why he would be in her house. Now or ever, really.

She didn't live in London, this he knew. And this was her parents' house, by the looks of it, so it wasn't like she had moved out to London somewhere without James finding out. The music at the club yesterday wasn't her sort of thing; she was too sweet and, innocent, really, for that. So, he must have met her after the club sometime. Which meant she had been out in London late last night. That's the only way she could have found him. And he must have been so drunk she took pity on him. Which is just about great- who knows what he might have said.

"So, what were you doing in London last night, Lil?" he still couldn't sit up properly, and he probably wouldn't until he could get his hands on some hangover potion, and soon too, hopefully.

"Of course that's what you will say, Black. Not, I don't know, 'thank you', or 'hello' or anything a sane person would stay after waking up on someone else's couch. Because you are Sirius Black, you have to ask what I was doing last night so that I was unfortunate enough to bump into you when you were about to be arrested, so I could get the joy of vouching for you and taking you home. You just want to know why I was in London. Well, it's none of your business, Black."

"Oh, so dreadfully sorry. Hello Lily my lovely, thank you so much for lending me this lovely couch of yours to sleep on last night."

Lily rolled her eyes at him then, before walking off. If he had sat up, he probably could have seen where she had gone, but that would have made him feel sick again, and he was pretty sure puking on someone's floor was not good etiquette. So he would have to suffice with lying on the couch not knowing where his amazing host was going. Shouting in someone's house wasn't the best etiquette, either. He could hear who he assumed was her somewhere, walking around what he presumed was the kitchen. Well, what he hoped was the kitchen. That would mean she was getting him something to eat or drink, or maybe even a hangover potion.

The room, or what he could see of it from his vantage point on the sofa, looked quite nice. Understated, but rather traditional. The sofa was certainly traditional- nothing special about that. There weren't many photos on the walls- they were all in frames on a cabinet that he could see over by what must be the television. If it wasn't a television, then muggles really were weird to have a big black box to be the focal point of a room. The floors weren't carpeted, but there was a lovely thick rug on the floor in front of the sofa. It was the sort of sofa that he would love to just roll about in if he was Padfoot, experiencing the tickle on the skin beneath his fur. He thought he could see another couple of chairs, but neither were as big as the sofa that he was currently lounging about on. Because he was lounging about on it. There was no other way to describe what he was doing other than lounging about.

"You know, I don't think it would kill you to sit up properly, you know. My parents will be home soon and you could at least try to look normal or sane or something. Because I have a feeling you're not going to be gone by then, aren't you?" Lily had come back, with a cup of something and a vial of what he hoped was a hangover potion. The cup, he didn't mind, he'd drink it whatever it was.

"Oh my lovely Lily, I would sit up, but you see I feel like I may vomit at any moment if I do that. And you would not want me to do that, would you my lovely?" he knew he was overdoing the flirting a bit, but he also knew that Lily would never agree to whatever he may proposition. She was too nice for that. And, apparently, she still wasn't over her boyfriend from Ravenclaw who James persuaded to dump her last Easter. Not that Lily knew James had persuaded him to dump her. And the Ravenclaw hadn't cared much, either. To him, Lily was just another girl in the school. He had moved on within the week; she was still torn up about it months later. At least that was what James said Remus said Mary said Lily thought. Or something like that.

"You could ease up on the flirt too, you know. I don't want my parents thinking you are my boyfriend." Lily looked rather disgusted at that, for some reason. As if he wasn't the best boyfriend any girl could wish for.

"Your parents think you have a boyfriend? Who is this boyfriend, lovely Lily?" he really was curious about this. Had she never told her parents about the break up with Mr Ravenclaw? Or had she met someone since and been in a relationship that James didn't know about yet. Had she actually been able to outsmart the marauders?

"Again, none of your business. Really, if you keep asking so many questions I may have to throw this lovely hangover draught that I got especially for you down the drain, turn all the lights on and start playing some of my dad's music loudly for you. How would you like that, Mr Black?" that was the scary thing about Lily. She went like this occasionally. She would say things like this with a completely straight face, and if someone didn't know her they may actually believe her. Of course, he had never fallen for it, even when he was the naïve little first year that he had been in the first week of Hogwarts. That was how long his naivety had lasted.

"Alright, alright, woman. I'll shut up, just give me the potion. Unless you want that lovely rug to be decorated with my puke." He held his hand out, grabbing randomly for the potion vial. Which Lily must have put into his hand, because a vial ended up there eventually. It didn't taste as good as his own, but he had perfected the art of the hangover potion. To the extent that he had figured out how to add flavourings so that it didn't taste as horrendous as usual.

"You know, you could be more polite, Black. I really don't know how I'm going to end up explaining you." Again, Lily rolled her eyes at Sirius, probably in desperation this time.

Sirius didn't mind, though. He just chugged the potion, waiting for it to take effect. It was why potions were so great, the wait was never that long. And the hangover potion was one of the faster potions in the wizarding world. Even now, the nausea was starting to wear off, making it easier for him to sit up. The dizziness was still there, but the risk that he may puke on the carpet had gone. Sitting up, he could see the rest of the room that was blocked by the sofa that had been his bed. It was rather nice, very cosy and family-y. Not the sort of living room that he would have, of course, but nice nonetheless.

"Well, I could always be that boyfriend of yours, you know." It was worth a shot, even though the kick that Lily then delivered to his balls was quite painful. Not the worst kick that that region had ever experienced, but up there, certainly. Number four, three at a push. Who knew she was so talented at the art of ball-kicking?

"My parents know I have standards, Black. I wouldn't settle down for any old immature boy that I meet, and they know that too. Even Petunia knows I have standards, as much as she won't ever admit it." There was a slight change of tone when she said her sister's name, but apart from that, Lily sounded perfectly OK. It was only really because Sirius had issues with his own family that he recognised Lily may have issues with hers. Or, more specifically, her sister.

"Oh, is that what you call them Lily my lovely. I thought they were reasons you wouldn't go out with little James." Sirius felt like he had to say that, and saying that he had to smirk. Because, most of the times that Lily rejected James, the speech went along the lines of 'I have standards, Potter'. Fifth year and before, James could reply with a dig at Snape, but that was a taboo subject now in Gryffindor. Ever since Lily had broken her and Snape's friendship, James had no comeback to throw at her. Not that he wanted to upset her at all, just to make her feel needy maybe? Feel like she wanted to know someone cared about her? He hadn't managed just yet, but he stupidly still had faith that he would one day.

"That's it, one more word and I'm kicking you out the house. And don't even think about apparating away. You may be able to without your wand, but you won't know where to come back to when you will want it back again."

"Stealing my wand, Lils? That makes me think that you actually want me to stay? What is this, lovely, have I finally managed to corrupt you?"

"No, you just somehow managed to corrupt my parents while you were drunk last night. So, you're going to have to stay so we can convince them that I hate you and you are a complete idiot." It was said with a smile on Lily's face, which was slightly off putting seeing as she had just insulted him quite badly.

"So, hang on, I think I might like to hear this story, how I got here and get the support of your parents. Because they obviously know what you should- that I am perfect boyfriend material that every girl and her parents want."

"Yeah, I think I will believe that, for you and for James, when I end up in detention. We'll see when that happens." Again, the straight face that Lily had spooked Sirius just a little bit.

"Yeah, well, you never know little Lils, you might end up in detention. I can assure it, if you want me to. But, you are looking at perfect boyfriend material right here." Since Sirius was sitting up on the sofa at this point, he was able to properly gesture to himself. "Anyway, that's what your parents think, isn't it?"

"Aargh, you're being hopeless right now, Black. Go back to being in a hung over coma, won't you?" Lily stood up, to go somewhere then (probably her bedroom, which was far far away from the living room and one Sirius Black), but Sirius had grabbed her wrist before she could make her escape.

"Look, just admit it. You're parents like me, don't they?" Lily hadn't sat down when Sirius had grabbed her, so she was standing awkwardly next to the sofa, but she didn't want to sit down again. Standing awkwardly was better than sitting down, in her opinion. She didn't want to have this conversation, either, because then she would, inevitably, end up talking about last night. And Sirius would tell James, and who knew what he would do with that information.

Sirius just kept looking at her, though, unblinking, and without relinquishing his grasp on her wrist either. The only out that she was presented with was answering his questions, as painful as it may end up being.

"Okay, yes, my parents like you. But this was at two o' clock this morning, when you woke the whole house up; probably the neighbours too, so they were probably tired- that must have impaired their judgement somewhat."

"So, two this morning, huh?"

"Yes. That was because it took me practically an hour to manhandle you to my house after we met you and the copper last night. You really are hard to lug around when you're drunk, you know."

"So, you were out until one this morning. Did you find me when you were on your way home?"

"Of course I was on my way home, it was one in the freaking morning and, unlike some people I could mention-" Here she glared at Sirius, quite viciously too, "-I actually like to get a good night's sleep. About 8 hours is best. And preferably falling asleep and waking up on different days."

"Sooo… Where had you been then, lovely?"

"That is not my name, Black."

"Flower."

"Nope, wrong again."

"Hmm, how about Little? I mean, you are, well, quite short."

"I'm not little! Just because you are abnormally tall!"

"Tut tut, Lils, I didn't think you were a name calling sort. I had you pegged for the naïve, innocent sort. Was I wrong?"

"Oh, for God's sake, Black. If you want to know about my life so badly, I'll tell you. But, I know you know my name, please get it right, for once in your little life?"

"I'll think about it. It depends how goof this story is, really."

"Alright. I was with Marlene and Jo, alright? It was Jo's birthday, if you remember, so we had gone out to celebrate. I was on my way to a good apparition point when I bumped into you. Unfortunately."

"Nope, not good enough. I want details, Red." Sirius looked quite smug, sitting on the sofa, getting all the information that he wanted on the goodly two shoes herself, Miss Lily Evans.

"What more can you want to know, Black? We went out, Jo got absolutely hammered, Marlene helped her home, I went home separately because my parents want to go visit my grand-parents today, so I have to go too."

"You were drinking, I thought you might be. What's our poison, Ginge?"

Lily just sighed, and was going to tug her hand out of Sirius' grasp and just storm off. But, before she could, he pulled; pulling her down onto the sofa. Fortunately, for both parties really, she fell onto the sofa rather than onto Sirius. But, that was alright, because Sirius just put his legs up over her lap, trapping her further.

"Fine, fine, I'll tell you. Absinthe and lemonade, but I never have many, alright?"

Sirius just smiled, though, to see if he could freak her out at all. Which seemed to be working; she started to squirm on her seat, but she didn't try to escape. Not really, at least. You couldn't really count the weak tug that she made against his grip as an attempt to escape.

"Nice, I had you pegged for drinking like a girl, Babycham or whatever it's called. Something pink, at least."

"Really? And why did you think that? What makes you think that I might be remotely girly?" Lily wasn't pleased that Sirius thought of her as overly girly; she was more of a tomboy than a girly girl. But, at the end of the day, studying was most important. She still felt like being part of the wizarding world was a privilege, she couldn't just do nothing.

"Jo, mostly. So, her birthday, what did she have the three of you doing? And where was Alice while you were on this excursion?"

"We were out. That's all you need to know, Black."

"Alright, alright, keep your hair on, girl. Merlin, are you tetchy today. So, do your parents think we were together last night?" He could guess the answer to this question, so it would be a sure fire way of finding out where she had been. Not that he really cared; it was only because she wouldn't tell him that he wanted to know. Just because he knew it would annoy her.

"Yes, they do. But, when they get home, we are going to correct that, aren't we Black. And they will know how terrible you really are, so that they will fall out of love with you, or whatever it was that you did to them." She levelled a glare at him then, almost challenging him to disagree with her. Just so she couldn't rant at him.

"So, what were we doing last night, then, babe?"

"Babe? Seriously? Are you running out of names now, Black? Shame, maybe you will have to get it right sometime soon?"

"Alright then, how's nutty as your name?"

"That's fine, anything but something that might suggest we are in some sort of relationship or something like that. Which, before you ask, will happen over my dead body."

"Sorry, I'm not into necrophilia. Shame, though, I'm sure you would look lovely."

"Ew, fine, we were out with Jo and Marlene at a bar. That's all they need to know. Then we can just convince them that they hate you, you can be on your way, and I can go back to pretending that you, Potter and Pettigrew don't even exist."

"But not Remus. I'm offended, Lilith." Sirius fake fainted over the arm of the sofa, then, being as dramatic as usual. He was obviously in his comfort zone again.

"No. Remus is nice, a prefect, and perfectly trustworthy. The rest of you aren't even one of those things between you."

"Shame. Apparently, Dumbles thought I'd be great, but Minnie said Moony would be better because he'd had a couple less detentions. Apparently they keep track of those things."

Lily raised an eyebrow at that, but then thought about it for a second "Actually, I don't know why I am shocked, that sounds like the sort of thing that he would do. Mad old man. Next, Potter will be head boy or something."

"No that, I would pay to see. Imagine, him catching me in the broom closet rather than you, Lils? It would be priceless, his face. Maybe I should write to Dumbles, suggest it to him."

Lily had levelled a glare at him, and was about to retort, in a way that would make sure that idea never crossed Sirius' mind again, but before she could she was interrupted by her own parents.

"Aww, he even has a nickname for her. I told you she would find a nice guy, and she has. Are you going to introduce us properly now, Lily? Your father would like to meet Sirius properly if you don't mind."

Lily just looked at Sirius; who looked exceedingly smug and pleased with himself, before groaning. This was going to be a long night, with the two of them.

**A/N: Next chapter, up before the weekend! I'm ahead of schedule!**

**I should get the next one up within the week, but I'm grounded at the moment :(, which means no laptop, or iPod, unless I'm doing school work, so I'm having to do this on the sly... There will definitely be one by next weekend, though, I can promise that :)**

**I hope you enjoy it :)**


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Harry Potter or anything you recognise..._

Chapter 7

Mr and Mrs Evans were nice, that would be apt. They were friendly, neighbourly, what people were expected to be in the outer suburbs. Mrs Evans was friends with Mrs Frew from next door, and Mr Evans often car shared with Mr Jacobs, when either of their cars was in the garage. When Lily and Petunia were younger, playdates would often be set up between the two of them and the Lyttle children. The old couple, across the street, would say that Mr and Mrs Evans were a lovely couple, that they were always there to lend a hand if necessary. Unfortunately for them, it became more necessary as they got older, but Mr and Mrs Evans didn't need to be asked; they just knew when assistance was required. Like when Mrs Smith had fallen over and couldn't get up, Mrs Evans knew that she needed help and went straight over. Call it a sixth sense, if you will, call it premonition if you want. Mrs Evans just knew that she could help people, and that it was important to help people. Treat other people as you wanted to be treated yourself.

Mrs Evans was friendlier with their daughters friends, especially any male friends, but when they proved themselves to Mr Evans, he was witty, amusing, and a perfect host. But, you had to prove yourself before you would be treated to this side of Mr Evans. The side that let you call him Jack, rather than Mr Evans, or sir if you were a potential suitor for either of his precious daughters. The last boyfriend of his eldest daughter Petunia, a Brendan, had not earned that privilege. But, then, he probably wouldn't have understood any of Mr Evans' witticisms anyway- he wasn't the sharpest knife in the box by a long shot. She was on the prowl at the moment, going out to clubs almost every night on 'the pull' apparently. He didn't want to sound mean, but he couldn't wait for her to move out, just so that he wouldn't be interrupted every night at about four in the morning when she would stumble into the house, completely off her head with drink.

So, when Mrs Evans (call me Eve, I insist, it sounds like you're talking to my mother-in-law) said that Mr Evans wanted to be introduced to Sirius properly, she meant he wanted to judge him; whether he was suitable for his little girl- as a boyfriend or just a friend, it didn't matter. Any boy that got close to either of his daughters would be judged in the same way. His daughters were too precious for just anybody.

"Dad, this is Sirius Black. Black, meet my dad." The fact that Lily called Sirius 'Black' didn't pass by either of her parents; it made her dad feel better (the relationship couldn't be that serious if she didn't call him by his first name), while her mother felt slightly dispirited (he wasn't the boyfriend that she had hoped he might be, which was a shame). Sirius, for his part, didn't protest the name Black in the way he may have if it had just been him and Lily.

"Well then, hello Sirius. How do the two of you know each other. I take it you go to Hogwarts too, don't you?" Since this Sirius was unlikely to be a potential suitor for Lily, Mr Evans felt like he could warm up to him, at least a little bit.

"Why, yes, I'm going into seventh year too next year. And I'm a Gryffindor through and through. Where dwell the brave at heart." Sirius couldn't help but smile when he said this, but then he felt that the ice had been broken slightly with Lily's father. Mostly because she had referred to him by his surname, but honestly, that was her name for him.

"Brave, huh? So, how do you prove this braveness of yours?"

"Well, I would fight a dragon with my fists if you could get one for me." This was something that Sirius always said that he wanted to do, but no-one seemed to take him seriously when he said this. Something about it being a death wish, or something equally ridiculous.

"Oh, I think I know one of these. Hungry Horntail, is it?"

"Hungarian Horntail, dad. Not hungry, it's that they are from Hungary originally." The first thing her dad had wanted to know when they found out there was a witch in the family was everything about dragons. Although, the only one he remembered was the Horntail, and he couldn't even remember the name half the time.

"That's the one, the Hungarian Horntail. So, where do I get one of these for you to fight, hey?"

"You see, that's the thing Mr Evans, we'd have to go over to the reserves in Romania, and you have to be fully qualified to go there; it's too dangerous otherwise." Sirius looked disheartened at this, although whether it was him acting or not, well, it could be either, to be honest.

"Well, that would be a shame, wouldn't it? What's the next best thing that we actually could do, then?"

"Hmm, jumping wouldn't really work because I'd just apparate away mid jump."

"Yeah, that wouldn't really work would it?"

Mrs Evans, on the other hand, didn't seem as interested anymore. This young man wasn't a suitor for her little girl, and at this rate she would probably end up as an old cat lady. Mrs Evans wasn't aware of any men in lily's life, at least not in that way, and at 17, and going to a mixed school, Mrs Evans found it hard to understand. When she was 17, she'd had at least three boyfriends, as well as a couple of flings on the side. Petunia was on her fourth boyfriend already, and her latest fling had the potential to turn into a fifth.

Lily wasn't taking part in the conversation anymore, it was too stupid now. Things that Sirius could do to prove his apparent bravery, but none of them seemed to be, well, right. Either they were too hard to do, or magic meant they weren't examples of bravery anymore. Which didn't interest Lily whatsoever- she may be a Gryffindor, but she didn't see the need to prove her bravery at every turn. Obviously the sorting hat thought she was brave enough; that was good enough for her.

Mrs Evans couldn't integrate herself into the conversation between her husband and Lily's friend, she got lost quite quickly. Magic wasn't something that had interested her much- she was proud of her youngest daughter, of course she was. Her grades seemed to be quite good, but the letters didn't make any sense. Why would a grade O be better than a grade A, but a grade E better than a grade D? It was something that didn't make sense to Eve.

But, then, she had to be proud of her youngest daughter. She seemed to be at the top of the class, or near the top at least. Considering she had been introduced to magic when she was 11 that must be a good thing. But, the magic thing was weird. It had come from nowhere, at least as far as Eve knew, and magic itself just seemed unnatural and wrong. Not that Lily could know she felt like this, it would break her heart. Lily had always wanted to prove herself to her mother, since when Petunia and Lily were younger, it had always been Petunia she had favoured. Not overly, but Petunia had been her first born, and that always seemed to be in the back of her mind for some reason. So, now with Lily a witch and away for most of the year, she couldn't ignore her when she was at home for the two months in the year. She had chosen to stay at school for both Christmas and Easter for the past couple of years, and Eve didn't really mind. It made it easier with Petunia, most of the time. The two sisters hadn't been on best terms since Lily went to Hogwarts for the first time. So, when Lily chose to stay at Hogwarts, well, at least there weren't family arguments at Christmas.

So, with her husband talking about magic, Eve felt like she should talk to her youngest daughter, but she wasn't sure what she could talk about. She had been so sure that she had a boyfriend, this Sirius, but if she hadn't then they didn't even have that to talk about. Lily always clammed up when it came to boy talk, as if there was someone she had a crush on, but she would never tell. And she never had her friends from Hogwarts come to the Evans house- they always went out to London, or at least that was what Lily would always say. Not that Eve had any reason not to believe her.

Unfortunately, though, this meant that most of their mother daughter conversations were limited to, well, what could be called small talk in most situations. They would happily chat about little pieces of gossip from the neighbourhood, music and popular culture, but that was as far as their conversations tended to go.

Lily, on the other hand was sitting there, not happily but not far off. Her dad understood that she and Sirius were not boyfriend and girlfriend, which was a good thing, but then Sirius seemed to e making friends with her dad. Which wasn't the best situation that there could be. But, it wasn't the worst so she was grateful.

Her mother seemed a bit put out by it all, but that was okay. It was the reason she hasn't told her mom about John last year. Her mom would have gone overboard, inviting him round, his parents round, suggesting he should stay the night; just being awkward like that. Like the way she had been with the two of petunias boyfriends that she had met. They were perfectly regular guys, who seemed like good matches for petunia, but both had broken up with her, and probably because of their mother. Of course, petunia had told their mother that she had broken up with them, but Lily had been around to witness the fallout from the breakups and there was no way petunia had dumped them if the amount if years there had been were anything to go by.

It was also why Lily always said she met up with her friends at diagon alley, rather than admitting she regularly visited both Jo and Marlene's house. She didn't want to invite them back to her house, which her mother would make her do. It was safer just to say that they always went to diagon alley, or maybe London, somewhere different for everyone.

Lily knew that she was ruining their relationship by lying to her mother like this, but then, there had ever been much of a relationship in the first place. Growing up, she had been daddy's little girl, while petunia had been a, albeit younger, carbon copy of their mother. And when she moved away to Scotland, it would always be her dad who wrote back to her, ask her questions, want to learn about magic. Of course, the letters were always signed 'love mom and dad', but that didn't really mean much because it was still in her dads handwriting.

It wasn't that she didn't think her mother loved her; she knew her mother loved her as any mother loves their children, or at least as any mother should love their children. It was that Lily didn't think she understood her anymore, and she didn't know how to interact with her. She couldn't gossip about boys because, well, she didn't know any from Hogwarts. They couldn't talk about lessons because Lily's mother knew nothing of charms, and Lily hadn't studied muggle history for a long time. They didn't see each other every day of the year to force conversation, so when they were together conversation was stilted, to say the least.

If she was perfectly honest with herself, Lily didn't help the situation at all. She didn't try to have a conversation with her mother; she didn't try to keep up to date with the news that interested her mother so that they could have a proper conversation. She was happier if she just had a book she could lose herself in, a concept which her mother didn't understand. So, while their relationship didn't seem to be the best from an outside perspective, it suited the two of them just fine.

"Lily! There is so much that you haven't told me! I mean, I didn't know half the things that Sirius was talking about, animagus and werewolves, who'd have thought that they actually exist. And you could actually work as a dragon tamer, I always thought that you were mocking me when you said that!" Sirius and Mr Evans had had a very long conversation at the dinner table, talking about all things magical. Eve had quickly excused herself, saying she should help Petunia pack seeing as she was leaving home in a couple of days. The glance at her husband suggested that she thought he should stop the conversation too, but he either didn't realise or just ignored her in favour of learning more about magic. Lily lasted a bit longer, but even she couldn't stay at the table forever. Unlike Mrs Evans, though, she just walked away with no excuse, although both parties who remained at the table could guess where she had gone. (Her bedroom of course, and to her bookshelf. She had bought a couple of new muggle books at the beginning of the summer, and she had only finished two of them so far.) After a couple of hours, Sirius had had to excuse himself, to return to the Potters, saying that Mrs Potter was probably worried about where he was, considering he hadn't been home yet that day. Mr Evans didn't comment about the fact that Sirius obviously didn't live at home, but then personal lives were something that they hadn't touched on at all.

So, Mr Evans had gone to find his youngest daughter to tell her everything that he now knew about her world and everything that she had not told him. Also to tell her that he had invited Sirius and anyone else that wanted to come over that Saturday, when both Eve and Petunia were out furniture shopping for Petunia's new flat. He knew that neither of them would want a group of wizards in the house; for different reasons, admittedly, but the opinion was still there. Petunia hated all things magical because she didn't understand them and they had stolen away her ideal baby sister. Eve just didn't know what to do, which was unusual for her, and led to awkwardness on all parts. Mr Evans just had to break the news to his youngest daughter, now, who probably wouldn't be pleased with it, if her previous encounter with Sirius could be trusted.

"Of course, dad, he likes to break rules and it means he knows about some of the stuff like that."

"Exactly, Lily-kins, if you just branched out a couple of times you could be an animagi thingy too!" Lily tried to suppress her eye-roll, she did, but she just couldn't keep it within her. Of course she knew that all of the marauders were animagi, Sirius had happily announced it to all the Gryffindors in the year one time when they were having a year bonding session. It involved alcohol, of course, which probably caused the announcement. Fortunately for the marauders, that night was a blur for everyone, who had all got majorly pissed that night. Lily had been the sensible prefect and kept all her memories. And she wasn't going to rat them out, because then she would be ratting out Remus as well, and she had learnt to enjoy his company, at least when he was acting like a sensible prefect rather than an idiotic rule breaking marauder. And, if she was perfectly honest with herself, she wouldn't even wish Azkaban on Potter, as much as he really annoyed her most of the time. Dementors weren't something you would wish on anyone but you're worst enemy who wanted to kill you at every turn. And, although he royally pissed her off a lot of the time, he wasn't her worst enemy.

"Dad, it's technically illegal, and I don't break the law. Anyway, why would I want to be an animal- you don't even get to choose what animal you get to be. It's supposed to represent who you are, and knowing my luck I'd end up with an ant or something equally as ridiculous."

"No, you'd be an equine of some sort, I'd say. A galloping horse, elegantly clearing falling logs in the forest. A thing of natural beauty, for sure."

"Yeah, sure, of course I would" Again, Lily tried to suppress the eye roll that wanted to (and did) accompany that statement. Everyone told her that she rolled her eyes too much, but she couldn't' help it. It was her reflex action to stupidity and idiotic statements.

"So, are you doing anything this weekend? Your mom and Petunia are going furniture shopping, so am I going to be alone in this house or will you keep me company?" if her dad had been a good twenty years younger, the face that he pulled with that statement could be considered to be cute, just the right amount of puppy eyes to make you want to listen, but considering he was her dad, they just managed to disturb Lily.

"Nope, nothing on the agenda. Jo is off to Italy with her family, and Marlene said something about a romantic weekend away for her and her boyfriend, so I'm stuck, since Gem is still in bed with dragon pox. Just me and these books, I think. Why? Do you want to do something?" Lily had gestured to the two piles of books on her desk- one pile of books she had already read, one of the ones she had yet to read.

"Well, I was thinking I could learn some more about magic, so I know what you're talking about in your letters home now."

"Yeah, sure, I can give you a crash course if you want me to. I mean, I'm sure it wouldn't be as good as Sirius'-" another eye-roll "but I could give it a go, if you want me to."

"Well, you see, that's the thing Lily."

Lily looked at her dad then, who was sporting a guilty look on his face this time. "What?"

"I may have invited Sirius over on Saturday, and said he can bring some friends if he wants to. So he can show me more about magic, and the cool parts of magic."

If Lily had been at Hogwarts, and this had been her friends, she would have exploded. She would have probably screamed so loudly that the Slytherins would have heard, before explaining very loudly and very quickly why the marauders were in no way whatsoever setting foot in her house individually, much less all four of them. And, although Sirius had been there on his own, it had been her kindness that led to him being on a sofa rather than in a cell, so he had been in her debt, at least partly. But if they were there by invitation, and all four of them, who knew what would happen. But, she wasn't at Hogwarts, and it wasn't her friends who had broken the news. She was at home, and it was her father who had broken this news to her.

"Okay, then. Sure, fine, just don't expect me to help host them. You invited them, I'm just going to hide out the whole time."

"But Lily, you need more friends than just Jo, Marlene and Gem. And, they can't be as bad as the 'idiotic pratheads' that you're always talking about in your letters, can they?"

Lily had often mentioned the marauders in her letters home, but never by name. She knew it was a stupid thing to do, and now it was coming back around to haunt her. Because she didn't have the heart to tell her dad that Sirius and his friends were the idiotic pratheads that she always mentioned, especially since him and Sirius had hit it off so well. So, she did the only thing she could do in the situation- grin and bear it.

"Alright, alright, I'll talk to them for a bit, but if they annoy me, I'm out. We don't really get on at school, you see."

"That's fine. You'll have fun, I bet. And, hey, you never know, you might actually make friends with one of them, then you would have a sort of older brother at school to talk to and to look after you if you ever need it."

_Oh yes, because they all need so many reasons to get closer to me than they already are. That would be just about perfect, if they started stalking on me on my father's orders. _Lily couldn't say anything like that, though, it would break her father's heart. And, she didn't want to do that to him, he was her favourite parent.

"Yeah, maybe, we'll see. I don't hold out much hope, though, I'm saying that now."

"We'll see."

There were a couple of awkward seconds, then, with Lily looking towards her book, trying to say that she wanted to get back to her reading, and therefore she wanted her dad out the room so she could be in peace again.

"Yes, well, I suppose I should do some work in the garden while the weathers good. Just don't tell your mother about this, hey Lily? Our little secret?"

Lily just smiled, in an almost but not quite condescending manner. She couldn't be condescending towards her dad, but she could be almost there. She turned back to her world of fiction, where everything just seemed to be so much simpler. This wouldn't happen, or at least wouldn't be as bad as this inevitably will be, in her world of fiction. _Merlin help me this Saturday, oh please, I don't think I'll be able to survive otherwise. Not a marauder invasion. _

**A/N: Next chapter, actually up before I said. This updating on time thing is going well ;). **

**So, still grounded, but I'm not sure my parents actually understand their own terms... Oh well, I'm not complaining. **

**So, obviously, this story is about Peter, but I was thinking of doing a bit of James/Lily too. Marauders always mean James/Lily, at least in part. So, would you want loads or not much James/Lily. At the moment it will probably be mostly them when we get back to Hogwarts, but I'm not sure just yet... What do you say?**

**Anyway, I'd better get back to the next chapter, so I'll see you next week ;)**

**(or maybe earlier, you never know...)**


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: As always, unfortunately, I do not own Harry Potter or anything you recognise..._

Chapter 8

Sirius had, of course, apparated to the Potter manor after leaving the Evans house, he actually ha news worth sharing. It wasn't a for once situation, but then, it wasn't far off. Normally, his big pieces of news were completely random and only affected him, like the time that he had the massive announcement that 'Abby saw Justin and Em making out in a broom closet, so now she's a free girl again' when Peter was going out with his Ravenclaw girlfriend, Remus doesn't want a girlfriend, at least not just yet, and James was once again in a pining-over-Lily phase of his life that came around roughly twice a term, and lasted about a week. So, not really news to the rest of the marauders. Or when he announced that Professor Singer was in the hospital wing after a mis-encounter with a Hippogriff, so Care of Magical Creatures was cancelled, when he was one of five students in the year still taking that class. Injuries like that were common for Professor Singer, so most people avoided Care of Magical Creatures whenever possible.

So, when Sirius burst into James' bedroom that evening, announcing rather loudly "I have news!", James just turned away from him and looked back at his not-diary that he had been writing in while Sirius was in the house. And it wasn't a diary, it was a book about Lily Evans and how he was going to finally manage to woo her. One day. In the meantime, maybe he did write about his life, but only the Lily Evans aspects.

"Yeah, right Pads. How far did the girl you picked up last night let you go?" James still hadn't turned around, he didn't think that whatever Sirius had to say would be worth it. It never was.

"Nowhere, she was too whiny. It was who I met after that was interesting." Sirius had thrown himself onto James' bed, lounging across it diagonally in a way that he was perfectly comfortable.

"Too whiny? For you? I didn't know you could feel like that, Pads. I thought any girl was perfect if she looked pretty enough, and last night was certainly your type, mate."

"Of course I can have too whiny. I mean, she wouldn't leave me alone. I like my personal space, thank you very much." Sirius looked suitably put out, but it was all in jest, really.

"Alright, alright, so what about girl number two? How far did she let you go?" James still had his back to Sirius, but he had put his not-diary away at that point, in an impenetrable box that contains all of his Lily shrine; some things that no-one knew about.

"Nah, nowhere, she just gave me a bed for the night. Or a sofa really. She was just a nice friendly girl."

"A bed for the night? That was your big news? A random girl let you kip at her house and you are happier than happy ever was?"

"Yeah, well, her dad was interesting and we had a chat before I left. About dragons and fun magic like that." Sirius knew that that would get a proper reaction out of James- he had no problem with breaking rules or laws when necessary, just not for no reason.

"Does the statute of secrecy not mean anything to you, Pads? You know, keeping the wizarding world a secret and all that? You can't go around telling any old muggle about dragons, mate."

"Nah, it's okay, the daughter was a witch, he already knew about magic and all that."

"So, you just happened to find a muggle-born witch in London last night?"

"Yeah, great wasn't it?"

"Sure, sure, so, did you already know her? Already ticked her box off?"

"Yes, but unfortunately no. I'm pretty sure her box is pretty much un-ticked."

"Okay, okay, so who was she? And how is she big news? A random girl?"

"No, she's no random. And our plans for the weekend are the big news." Sirius stretched out on the bed rather relaxed and happy, almost as if it was his room. But, to be honest, all their belongings were mixed, their rooms might as well be too.

"You're making me guess, aren't you?"

"Yep!" Sirius smirked, because this was definitely a better way of breaking the news to Sirius. Just telling him that he had an invitation for them all to his crush's house would be rather boring in comparison.

"Alright, so. Muggle-born, definitely. At least, well, fourth year?" Sirius just smirked as a response to the question.

"So, they were out last night in London at about midnight? You wouldn't have left before then, would you?"

"You're on the right track so far, mate."

"Alright then, so, all Slytherins are out, yes?"

"Really, mate? Between a cell and a snake, I'd choose a cell any day, you know me."

"Right then, I'm thinking all your old conquests are out, too?"

"And why would I do that? I don't have a death wish, you know."

"Okay, that's good, you've just ruled out practically everyone at school."

"Oh, come on!" Sirius rolled over and pouted at his best friend then, because that wasn't true. Everyone thought he was some sort of man slut or something, but he just didn't like getting serious with new people. Shagging in broom closets was much easier, especially when they were good looking like most of the ones he picked were. "I swear I've only been with 20 at most. And that isn't practically everyone!"

"Alright, alright, so there are still quite a few that it could have been. So, Hufflepuff we have 2 in fourth, one in fifth, and none in sixth. Ravenclaw, 1 in fourth, none in fifth and none in sixth, and Gryffindor we have, well there are two in sixth, but I doubt Levelle or Evans will let you sleep at their house, so one in fourth and two in fifth."

"Really? That many? Man, I'm gonna have to work on that next year. Hey, there's the Hogsmeade's sorted."

"Of course you have, mate. So, I think all the fourth years are out, I don't think those three are the sort to be out that late at night."

"Yep."

"So, it's between, err, Hufflepuff fifth year, and Mary and Em from Gryffindor."

"Aww, come one mate, are you ruling Levelle and Evans out so quickly? Why, I mean, you never know."

_Yeah, because Evans or any of her friends would have been out in London that late at night last night. They are the sort to stay in and have book reading marathons. I mean, something educational at least. Lily's sensible, she wouldn't go out on the lash, and wouldn't let anyone go out on the lash on her watch. I mean, anyway, Lily helping Sirius. Yeah, right. _"Okay, Evans and Levelle too."

"Atta boy, now there are 5 for you to pick from."

"Great, so, questions now?"

"Go on. But I can refuse to answer them, if I so desire."

"Of course you can, because you always can. What's her number?"

"Hard one, I'm not sure. I think I'd put her at about an eight now. Apparently she's less of a prude than I thought she was." Sirius' number system was based on 'hotness, prudishness and house. So, all Slytherins are minus four hundred and sixty two, naturally', as he had decided in fourth year.

_See, obviously not Lily. Not thinking ill of her at all, but she was a prude, and it suited her. The naivety and the innocence that surrounded her made her a part of who she was. And, of course, her dressing sensibly and not like some of the sluts in the school. _"Okay then, why was she in London?"

"She wouldn't tell me. All she's say was out with some friends." Which was completely true, but telling which friends would be giving it away slightly, which wouldn't be fun at all.

_So, probably drinking and they were stumbling drunk together. If Lavelle and Evans weren't so close, then I'd have said that it could be her, but she's out because Lily's out. _"I take it you won't say who the friends were, then. Male or female? Or can you not remember?"

"Female. I can remember, thank you very much." James raised an eyebrow at that. "Okay, then, she told me and she doesn't lie."

_Like Lily, then. She never lied, even when the truth hurt her more than the lies would. She always said it was her religion, but then that was in first year. She doesn't talk about religion as much, but she still doesn't lie. She's just a dependable sort of person. _"Can I ask hair colour?" _Just to rule Lily out, please, I know it's not her but I need to know for sure. _

It was Sirius' turn to raise an eyebrow at that, apparently that was the most stupid question that could be asked on the topic. "Really, Prongs? I'm pretty sure we have a redhead, a mousy blonde, a blonde and two brunettes in the race still. Hair colour gives it away a bit, don't you say?"

"Fine, fine, let's see. Is she a prefect? I'm pretty sure there are three yes and two no at that. I mean, Evans, Mary and that 'Puff are all prefects, I think." _Because if she's a prefect, it must be Mary, which is just weird, but I'm pretty sure the 'Puff is a 5, and one night can't turn a five into an eight, no way._

"I suppose, yes then. A rather good one at that, I mean, she's annoyed us far too many times to mention. Only annoyed, though. Mostly, annoyed, I suppose would be better."

"Mary? Seriously? She's a crap prefect, I mean, we could tell her when we're pranking and she would still let us do it. She couldn't care less either way." _It can't be the 'Puff, I mean, I hope not. She's never caught us either. The only person to ever catch us mid prank is Lily, and that's because she always seems to listen in on our conversations, or something, I swear._

"Mary? Nah, anyway, I think she lives in Yorkshire and she can't apparate- you don't go out in London if you can't apparate and you live in Yorkshire." Sirius' smug smile was back at full force, knowing the cogs that were ticking in his friends head. Because if it wasn't Mary, and it couldn't be-

"But it can't be the 'puff, I mean, we don't even know her name. And she's a five. And she doesn't even deserve her prefect badge." James was getting rather worked up about all of this, as the thoughts that he'd been disallowing were coming out full force.

-the Hufflepuff so that meant that it just had to be-

"Lily? Miss Evans? Miss perfect? Goody two shoes? Lily Evans?" Sirius could only laugh at the expression of pure shock mixed with unadulterated joy that was on his friends face. When he nodded, though, agreeing with the conclusion that James came to, James seemed to faint, causing Sirius just to laugh even harder than before. Fainting friends were just the funniest things.

Of course, James wanted to go to Lily's house seeing as he had a valid reason as well as an invitation. And Sirius was going, he was the one invited in the first place. Remus felt that he had to go, to look after Lily. Merlin knew that she would need some sanity in the house seeing as the two brothers-by-unfortunately-different-mothers-(and-fathers) would be there. Peter couldn't go, saying he was busy at home, his mom needed him for some reason or other.

The real reason, if you want to know, was that Deb wanted to meet up, to have a chat and discuss his plan of action for when school started again, but he was never going to tell his friends that. That he was meeting up with a muggle girl over his girlfriend. Not that he had anything against muggles; he was a half blood and Deb was really funny. It was just that James and Sirius would think that he had been corrupted, and those conversations were always so awkward. So, it was safer for them just to think that it was his mother.

The three of them had all congregated at the Potter Manor beforehand, much to Mrs Potter's delight. And the house elves', really. They enjoyed cooking or as many people as possible; they liked big households with big mouths to feed. At ten to ten , they all apparated off to the Evans', landing in the middle of the living room, as requested by Mr Evans.

Who was sitting in the comfortable looking armchair, reading a newspaper. Sirius could only assume it was muggle, seeing as the pictures weren't moving, and the back of the newspaper was talking about something called 'football', rather than Quidditch. The cracks that they had all made had, of course, broken him from his reverie, but he wasn't shocked. Instead, he smiled when he saw Sirius, and got up to shake his hand.

"Sirius! You came! With friends! Do they have names?" Mr Evans reminded James of Professor Slughorn a bit, in the way that he was so excited and happy that Sirius had come. Not that Professor Slughorn ever felt that about Sirius, but he did about Lily. Every time she got something right in potions. Which was quite often, really.

"Of course they do, sir! My almost twin is James, and the almost-not-quite blonde is Remus. Don't call him blonde, it really annoys him." Sirius matched Mr Evans' enthusiasm almost exactly, saying the last bit in a stage whisper. He had found someone with a similar mentality to him; he wasn't going to let them go.

"Good to meet you, boys. So, Lily is upstairs, so why don't you see if you can drag her down Sirius, while I learn some more about these two friends of yours, hm?"

"Yeah, great. Which door?"

"Turn left from the stairs, only door on that side. It'll be shut, but just ignore that. She's slightly annoyed at me this morning, or I'd go and get her myself, but, well, it's better when she isn't ranting at someone."

"Yeah, I know what you mean sir, I mean," James had started talking before he had really thought it through. This was her father, he couldn't talk bad about her in front of her father. Not that he would talk bad about her, but, well, you never know how it could be taken.

"Oh, have you been around when she's been ranting at the idiotic pratheads? She always seems to be complaining about them for some reason or other. Embarrassing her, pranking her, talking to her sometimes it seems!" Mr Evans was laughing as if it was something funny, that those 'idiotic pratheads' weren't in the room with him. Well, three quarters of them at least.

James didn't know what to say, He wanted to correct Mr Evans, he didn't want to be known as a liar to his hopefully future father in law, but then if he told the truth then he would probably get kicked out before he could say 'idiotic prathead'. He didn't know what being caught between a rock and a hard place was supposed to mean, but he would give a guess that it would mean the situation that he was in then.

Of course, sensible Remus saved the day. It didn't matter to Remus if Mr Evans hated him in the future- they didn't have any awkward family meals in their possible future. "You could say that, sir. Definitely one way of putting it." The smile that accompanied his words made them seem more innocent than they actually were, but at least there had been no lies.

There was pause after that; almost as if they were all thinking about what Remus had said. But, Sirius, ever the bouncy one who didn't understand awkward, just jumped up off the sofa that he had slept on and announced that he was going to get Lily, before bounding up the stairs two at a time. Leaving James with his maybe future father in law. And Remus as well, but that was beside the point.

Sirius hadn't knocked, of course he hadn't. Knocking wasn't a thing that he did. Instead, he had barged into Lily's bedroom to find her lying on her bed surrounded by piles of books. Well, maybe not surrounded, but there were certainly more than Sirius had read in a couple of years. Not that Sirius read much, but that was beside the point.

"Lily-lily-lily, I have a question for you my lady."

"Oh yes Sirius, do come in. I am not as bad as would be expected considering the day, how about you? What could this question be?"

"Yeah yeah, all that stuff blah blah blah. Anyway, why doesn't your dad think we are the idiotic pratheads?"

"Why, did you say you were?"

"Not in so many words, but then, Prongs did seem like he was about to spill. Fortunately, moony saved the day and here we shall stay!"

"Damn, I thought that would catch one of you off guard. Well, I suppose if you want to keep the fact that you are idiotic pratheads a secret, fine. Just, don't' go saying Potter's, well, just Potter really."

"Oh, right. See, he's my friend, so I call him by his actual name. You, on the other hand darling, what are you going to call him? If Potter is out?"

"Ah, now here's the best bit Black. I'm not going downstairs."

"Err, yes you are. Your dad sent me up to get you, and I like him so I think I'll do what he's asked me to."

"Really, Black? Actually following someone's orders? How is that for you?" Lily rolled her eyes at him at that. Because, Black actually doing something for someone else never happened, unless he benefitted from it more than they did. Much more than they did.

"It's okay. I mean, I think it's gonna be a one off thing, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be." Lily rolled her eyes again at that, seeing as her sarcasm had seemed to go straight over his head. Or maybe straight through it. It wasn't like there was anything in his head, after all.

"Yeah, sure. Now, you go back down, tell dad I'm going to stay up here, and go do whatever you were going to do."

"How about no?" Sirius was still standing in the doorway, with his arms folded. _He probably thinks I'm just going to give in if he stays there for long enough. Too bad he's never met Petunia or my mother. Now they are stubborn._

"How about yes?"

Sirius just stared at her, attempting to stare her down, but after thirty seconds he was having to blink while Lily just stared on, staring him down. Obviously that hadn't worked. Neither had the posture, or the dad card, which only left one thing in his arsenal, really. With that, he jumped straight onto Lily.

Well, her legs really. The rest of her was surrounded by piles of books, which looked to be painful if he landed on them. Something that he didn't want to test out.

Lily, of course, proceeded to shove him straight off her, but unfortunately Sirius had about five inches and a couple of pounds on her, meaning he wasn't moving if he didn't want to. Which he didn't, at least not until she would be going back downstairs with him.

"Okay, Black, you stay there. I'll be reading, so please don't disturb me. At least, try not to disturb me. Just for once in your little life." Which she proceeded to do, picking up the book which she had never actually put down and burying her nose in it again.

It was a new horror book by the author Stephen King, called The Stand. She was just approaching half way through, and while she didn't think that horror was going to become one of her go to genres, nor Stephen King one of her go to authors, she wasn't going to say no to another of his books. Maybe a slightly shorter one next time, though. The Shining looked quite good when she was stopping.

Surprisingly, though, Sirius didn't protest too much. Of course he still pouted a fair bit, annoyed her, stared at her quite annoyingly, tried to tickle her. Although, that didn't work that well because Lily wasn't ticklish. At least, not on her feet, her sides or her legs; the three places where Sirius tried. He got bored rather quickly when Lily didn't react.

He even tried reading one of the books that was on one of the various piles surrounding Lily, but it was rather dull. It was called Pride and Prejudice, but the first line was talking about the only thing that a woman needed in her life, which seemed neither prideful nor prejudiced to Sirius.

Instead, he just lay sprawled on top of Lily and her bed, trying to amuse himself with his thoughts. But, even they couldn't amuse him for too long. He couldn't think of any prank ideas without James or Peter to bounce his ideas off. And, Lily wouldn't be the same, because she would probably just dissuade him. And that was never a good thing. Pranks should always be encouraged, not ignored.

Lily, though, wasn't reading. She had tried, but Sirius couldn't sit still for the life of him. It was something that Lily had already known- she had lived with him for six years so far, but she had never realised just how much Sirius fidgeted. Admittedly, he had never sat on her at all before, but she couldn't concentrate on anything if he would sit on her and fidget as much as he was. So, she was just lying there watching him obviously trying not to disturb her. He had picked up her copy o Pride and Prejudice for about a minute, tickled her unsuccessfully, stared off into space for a while. But, at coming up to five minutes, Lily herself was getting bored of doing nothing; even her books couldn't distract her. And the only way to get rid of Sirius would be to go downstairs; to Potter and her dad. She didn't know which was worse at that point.

"Alright, Black, let's go. It can't be too bad down there."

"Really? Come one then!" Sirius had jumped up straight away when Lily had said something; probably bored out of his brain too. Not that that took much for him; he didn't like it when he wasn't doing anything.

Lily instead reluctantly dragged herself off the bed, making a point of putting a bookmark in her book, and returning it to its current pile. She didn't want to go downstairs, and as long as one person knew that she was happy. Well, not exactly happy, but not as sad as she would have been otherwise.

So, while Sirius was practically dancing down the stairs, Lily was happily dragging her feet to take as long as possible. Because, while she didn't want to stay in her room with Sirius splayed over her legs, she didn't want to spend her afternoon hosting the marauders with her dad. Especially since it seemed like someone had given Sirius sugar recently.

"We're back!" Sirius practically yelled when he was at the bottom of the stairs, having resorted to pulling Lily behind him so that she didn't run back off to the safety of her bedroom.

James just broke into a stupidly happy grin, while Remus smiled a wry, sympathetic smile, as if he knew how hard this was for her. Mr Evans was just smiling rather too innocently to be normal, but then if they had been arguing earlier, it almost made sense.

Sirius continued pulling her behind him as he made a beeline for the sofa where he had slept, pushing Lily on first before resuming his perch on her legs. Remus still looked sympathetic towards Lily, while Mr Evans just pretended not to see. James, though, was confused as to why Lily was allowing this, but Sirius just smirked at him. Not in a mean way, he couldn't be mean to his best friend like that. This was helping him, after all.

**A/N: Next chapter already, and these are just going up randomly now aren't they... Apparently order and structure just isn't my thing...**

**I know we haven't seen much of Peter recently, but believe me, he is still there. We should see more of him next chapter, maybe meet him and Deb together. **

**There isn't much else of importance from the Summer, so we'll be going to Hogwarts soon, where there will be some good old school drama. Yay!**

**Thanks for my first review, guest!**

**See you, well, who knows? Sometime soon, that's all I can say... :)**


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: As always, unfortunately, I do not own Harry Potter or anything you recognise..._

Chapter 9

Peter, meanwhile, was at the train station at London. Platform 8, Kings Cross Station. He couldn't help but smirk while he was looking at the wall between platforms 9 and 10. He would be there in just under a month, with the other three marauders surrounding him; plotting how to wreak havoc in their last year at Hogwarts. There were a couple of big pranks that they had been planning since they were lowly little first years, and Sirius would probably insist that they executed them this year. Even though at least five of these plans could hypothetically get them expelled from school if they ever got caught. And one of them meant that they would have to appear in front of the whole school in their animagus form. Which was still technically illegal.

Deb was due in on the half ten train at platform 8, and the time was still only 10:27. He knew that this wasn't going to be a date; he had a girlfriend from school after all, but he still knew it was rude to be late. Especially when he could apparate and therefore always be there on time. Anyway, he enjoyed just standing at train stations and watching people. Looking at people waiting, like him. Whether they were waiting for friends, lovers, family, whoever it was. Then there were the people waiting for the trains. Those leaving their family, friends and loved ones, and those on their own; probably on their way back home.

He would always imagine what the different people were doing there. Was the girl with the Walkman and duffel bag returning home after a holiday with her friends, or was she off on an adventure of her own making. Was the man in the sharp suit a business man who was just going to go and settle another deal, or was this one going to be his first. The group of friends in the corner could be a group similar to the marauders: trouble making friends who would do anything for the others. They were just waiting for the last of them to arrive before they were going to head off to Hyde Park, to chill in the park while planning their evening activities. And the gaggle of girls at the other end of the platform knew them, and the one in the middle fancied one of them, but wasn't brave enough to ask him out. She thought he might say no, so couldn't bring up the courage, just in case.

To be honest, he knew how she probably felt, if what he thought was true. He may be a Gryffindor, and brave in most situations, but other people made him feel slightly nervous. On his own, he could fight just as well as any of his other brothers, but talking to people, especially girls, well, that wasn't what he was best at. Not to say he couldn't, but it was about a month before he was comfortable talking to the marauders without stuttering. Not all the marauders together, though. No, that was still only one to one, in their dormitory. By the end of the first year, he could speak up if it was only the four of them there, and by the end of the second he could speak up in front of all of his year in Gryffindor, including the two other guys. If he was perfectly honest with himself, he still wasn't comfortable talking in front of the whole school, which was probably why most people just thought that he was a hanger-on. He didn't mind, though, and it wasn't like he could say otherwise- he wasn't going to say anything.

It had taken him ages to ask out his Ravenclaw girlfriend, and she had been so sweet about it; it just made everything so much harder in terms of breaking up with her now.

Thinking back on what Hogwarts had been like over the years was never a good thing to do, though. Inevitably, his thoughts would go to the most embarrassing things that had happened, such as the time all the marauders had dressed up for Halloween as knights, only he dressed up as a normal knight, while they were dressed as if they were in the middle of a very bloody battle. And he couldn't run and change, because of course that was the day he had overslept, and so was late to his first lesson when he saw what they had actually meant when they, well Sirius, had said knights. Or there was the time in third year when he tried to ask Molly the fifth year Hufflepuff to Hogsmeade, but all his words came out in the wrong order and made him sound rather more explicit and, well, like Sirius than he actually was. Even thinking about it made him blush; how could he have been so stupid. She would never have said yes, either, so it had always been a hopeless case.

He was starting to get stuck in thought like this when two hands covered his vision; a voice accompanying them asking 'Guess who!'. Although he had flinched when he lost his sight, the question meant it must be a muggle, and a friendly one at that. Considering the fact that the only muggle that Peter knew was going to be in London that day, let alone platform 8 of Kings Cross station, was Deb, he thought he might as well play along for a bit.

"Deb, hey!" Peter said whilst turning around. The hands were still covering his eyes, but there was no-one else that it could be so it was perfectly safe.

Of course, the hands removed themselves, showing a smiling Deb as the owner of said hands. "hey yourself! I hope your journey wasn't too bad, was it?" deb was positively beaming, as if the joys to be in the capital city were just too much for her.

"Of course not, just a regular trip to London, really. I got in about ten minutes ago, so I thought I might as well wait here for you. I don't want to lose you before we've really started, do I?" Peter was telling the truth, both he and a train from Exeter had arrived in London about ten minutes ago. He chose Exeter because it wasn't really that far from where he lived, and it was obviously a different train from the one Deb would be on from Bristol. He wasn't the biggest fan of trains; he tried to keep his number of trips on them a minimum. Unfortunately, that often meant staying at Hogwarts over the holidays, but when it was only his mother at home, that wasn't the worst idea in the world.

"Cool cool, I didn't want you to be waiting too long for me. I mean, coz that would have been really mean of me, wouldn't it?" Deb smiled a bit at that, not a full smile, more like she was trying to convince herself that she should smile at that. "And, well, I don't get to go to London that often, so I thought we should try to spend as much time as possible here, so that we can get the proper London experience, and live like Londoners for the day. Coz that would be so cool, wouldn't it?"

Peter could only nod; she was talking so fast it was hard for him to keep up really.

"Yeah, I know I know, and I'm sorry but I'm just so excited and nervous and I get like this when I have sugar and I think I must have had about, well, I dunno, but I certainly drank so much cola on my way down. I was tired you see, and that is the only thing that wakes me up, and now, well, yeah." Deb finally managed to stop talking, and the smile this time was rather sheepish- she knew that she had been rambling, but she really couldn't have helped herself.

"Cola? I haven't had some of that for so long. None of my friends like it, so I always ending up ordering lemonade instead, which just isn't the same, is it?" Of course, that wasn't the reason, but he could hardly tell her that he drank Pumpkin juice and Butterbeer instead, now, could he?

"Really? Wow, I don't know how I could live without it. I mean, it's like alcohol without the hangover that will always happen after drinking alcohol. I mean, I see my friends after a night on the lash often enough, and I do not like them like that."

"Yeah, I know what you mean about that. It's never a pretty sight." There had been countless times when Sirius and James had woken up, unable to deal with noise and light. Often with a girl in their bed too, and occasionally they had no idea who the girl was. Often, Remus was the one to send the girl on her way, trying to convince her that everything was alright. Peter would, but he didn't know them either, and talking to strangers wasn't his favourite thing to do.

Deb just smiled at that, there was nothing more that either of them needed to say. Peter couldn't help but smile too, it was sort of contagious. And her smile was kind of pretty. He probably shouldn't be thinking that, it was probably something that would make him a jerk, but it was true. She was pretty like that.

They were just walking around London, randomly with no real purpose. There wasn't any real purpose behind their conversations, either. They had talked about school in depth, although Peter had modified the truth a bit, since he couldn't really talk about magic with her. The statute of secrecy and all that.

It turned out that Deb had dropped out of school last year, after leaving after she took her couple of O levels, and lots of B techs. Well, not lots of, that was the wrong word. More than O levels, but she only really had a couple of qualifications to her name. Her parents had said that there was no point in her continuing school with the grades that she had got in those three O levels that she had done. Especially considering they were art, drama and English Literature. What could those three lead to a respectable career in?

So, she had dropped out, and decided not to college either. Instead, she had got a job in a shop straight out of school, which was really the only job that she was able to get with her lack of qualifications. She was still working there now, but she had moved up a bit since she had started the job a year ago. She was going in to management training the next week, and the pay from being manager would mean that she could start saving money to potentially move to London; where she wanted to live. Because, when she was in London, then she could live as an artist in London, where art wasn't just a pipe dream that never made anyone a real living. At least, that was the opinion of her parents, and since she was still living in spitting distance of her parents, she wasn't really free to do what she wanted.

In London, though, her parents wouldn't be there to tell her what to do, and to dissuade her from doing what she wanted to do. Which was why she enjoyed spending as much of her time there as possible, to get used to the city so that when she moved there, she would know where to hang out. And where the cheap places to hang out were, so that she wouldn't waste money in her new life.

So far, though, she hadn't found that many places to hang out when she finally made the move to London. There were a couple of cute little coffee shops that had potential, but nothing really stood out so far. She was looking for quirky, and small and cheap, somewhere that she could really fit in, since the big city wasn't somewhere that she was used to. She may have lived near Bristol for her whole life, but she didn't live there, and she didn't visit there often enough to be perfectly comfortable with large amounts of people. The number of people didn't put her off London, though, because it was still the capital city, and it was still the place where she had dreamed she would live as a grown up.

A lot of the conversation between Deb and Peter was about her dreams of living London, something that they were both perfectly comfortable with. To be honest, Peter quite enjoyed the conversation, because she didn't have a war to worry about. There were no numbers over her head, she was free to do what she wanted. She wouldn't be expected to pick a side in a year's time, she wouldn't be expected to fight in a war that she didn't' understand.

At Hogwarts, all the talk ended up at the war that was raging outside the four walls of the castle. There were the Slytherins who would lord it over everyone that they thought they were on the winning side, because they were convinced that Lord Voldemort would turn up victorious in the war. Then there were the people like James and Sirius, who would always stand up for the muggleborns of the world, and weren't prepared to let anyone say anything against them.

There were the people in the middle, of course, but they knew that they would have to choose sooner or later, so it was more like they were playing the field and trying to decide which side would be better to fight on; remaining neutral wasn't going to be an option. To Lord Voldemort, you were either with him, or against him.

But, still, being with Deb meant that he didn't even have to think about any of this. Deb wasn't going into a war, and it was a privilege that he didn't have. But, he was being a muggle for a day, so he was not going to think about any of this. Because, it would bring him down, and he didn't want to be down when he was pretending to be a muggle.

"Peter, I'm so sorry. I've just been rambling on about my own life this whole time, and you haven't really said anything. I mean, you could probably quote my life story by now, couldn't you?" They had made their way into a coffee shop just off Hyde Park, where they were trying to be mature by drinking coffee. The only problem, though, was that neither of them actually liked coffee, and the amount of sugar that they had put in to make it drinkable just made it worse.

"Nah, it doesn't matter. I mean, my life is nothing in comparison. Boarding school isn't really that exciting. Nowhere near as good as I thought it would be when I started there." Muggle modifying the stories that he had would be too hard, so he was just going to play it simple and make it seem so boring.

"Really? Boarding school being boring?" Deb cocked her head at him, looking confused, "I didn't think boarding school could be boring. Especially a co-ed boarding school. Boys and girls and nothing exciting?"

"Well, I mean one of my friends is always getting with the girls of the school in the supply closets in the school, but all the teachers are pretty strict so we can't really get away with anything. Not if we don't want to be in detention for our whole life."

"Are you trying to tell me you aren't the sort of person who would get in trouble for the hell of it?"

"Well, no, but after enough detentions you learn that they aren't the sort of things that you want to do every Friday and Saturday night."

"Every? Whoa, what is the punishment like there?"

"Well, it depends on the crime, but since my friends love pranking people, and I am just too dumb to say no, the crimes we commit often call for quite harsh punishments. Especially if it's the caretaker who catches us, because he always takes us to our head of house and she doesn't get our jokes."  
"So? What do you have to do, rebel?"

"Everything, really. Cleaning, taking inventories of stuff, collecting herbs, anything really. And rather disgusting, really. Especially since the head of house often gave us this detention for weeks at a time. Months if she's feeling really antsy."

"And that is definitely mean and nasty of her, that is for certain."

"Yeah, you can say that again."  
"Really, do I need to?" Deb looked at him rather innocently, as if she didn't understand the sarcasm.

"Yeah, I'm a bit hard of hearing sometimes, you know how it is." It was always more fun to play along. He had learnt from when Sirius did things like that, because an annoyed Sirius never seemed to go away.

"Oh, alright then. I'll grab a megaphone next time I see one for you." Deb tried to say it with a straight face, but the incredulous look that Peter sent at her was too much, and just caused her to burst out laughing.

"Yeah, I really should get one of those things. Maybe I can use it next time in one of our pranks or something at school." Peter was laughing too, because he couldn't think of anything more ridiculous than a muggle megaphone at a wizarding school like Hogwarts. He thought that he should suggest it to Sirius, just to see what he could think up. That would certainly be one way to get the Slytherins going.

"Totally! That really would be something amazing to do!"

The two of them just looked at each other, then, and burst out laughing again. Peter enjoyed it, like this. It was so easy to just be himself, and for the first time in what felt like forever, he wasn't nervous when meeting someone for only the second time. Phone calls didn't really count in the same way.

They could have sat there for a while longer, too, but the coffee shop owner had come over to them, to tell them that the coffee shop was closing and that it was nearing five o' clock. Which meant that the day was over, seeing as Deb's train was due in at ten to six, and there was a train to Exeter at seven past. Not that Peter would be on it, but he had to keep up with pretences, which meant that he would have to pretend that he would be on the train on the way home.

The walk back to King's Cross was as nice as the whole day had been. Easy, relaxing, and enjoyable for both of the parties. They didn't need to worry about anything, and there weren't any awkward moments between the two of them either. They were just two friends who were perfectly used to each other and comfortable with each other too.

They were the opposite side of London to King's Cross, and neither of them could afford the public transport that would take them to the station in about half the time compared to walking. Of course, public transport wouldn't have been nearly as nice, or nearly as interesting. Even though they had run out of things to talk about and had resorted to discussing the weather, as all good British people did when there was nothing to talk about. Living up to stereotypes was rather fun, sometimes.

The end of the walk was a bit of a run, to make sure that Deb caught her train. She only just managed to, jumping on board just before the doors closed. As it always happened. She stayed in the door as the train pulled off, to wave at Peter. Because, of course he had followed her to her platform. It was just the right thing to do that should be done. Of course, he said that it was because his train was coming in to platform seven, which was quite close.

Peter wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to do, next, then. The rest of the marauders were probably still at Lily's: James wasn't going to go any time before he had to, because he was at the house of his long time crush. There had to be a clause about long time crushes that said if you get to their house, you stay for as long as you can.

He didn't want to go home, either, because that was his mother, and his mother was someone that he couldn't spend any more time than necessary. Especially because she wanted to stay neutral in this war, and neutral just wasn't going to be an option. Peter kept telling her that neutral would mean that she would wind up dead sooner or later, but she never listened. She said that it was easier than joining the side of the light, and that she was less likely to die than by openly defying the powerful wizard that goes by the name of Voldemort.

The Voldemort that had come into the wizarding world when Peter was a fifth year, but only two years later and the whole wizarding community knew that he was not someone to be messed with. No-one could say that he wasn't one of the most powerful wizards that were currently walking the Earth: his followers claimed that he was the most powerful wizard of all, but Peter couldn't believe that there was someone more powerful than Dumbledore. The power that he commanded was so great, there was no-one else who could challenge that sort of power.

According to some sources, Dumbledore was preparing an army to fight against him; fight for the muggleborns so that they could live happily as they had been living up until this point. Some people said that he would invite the people who he thought would help the cause the most. Those who would be able to fight Voldemort and his cronies, and just maybe win. Of course, this was like an elite on the side of the light, separate to the general light fighters. Of course, Dumbledore was still the head of the light, but the light was rather disorganised and disjointed, where the so called Death Eaters were prepared with masks and all.

If the sources were right, Peter was pretty sure that he would be invited by the end of the year, with the other marauders and maybe some of the girls too. Because they were some of the best fighters in the school who knew the difference between right and wrong, good and evil. And, Peter knew that if that did happen; if he was propositioned by Dumbledore to join his elite, Peter would not hesitate in saying yes, because he would be doing the right thing, saving lives and protecting people that he knew and loved. Platonically, of course.

But, with the issue with his mother, it only meant that any time they were both home, and they were both awake, they just ended up yelling at each other, for as long as they could before their voices gave out. And then some longer too, just because they could. To his mother, Voldemort wasn't the threat that everyone else saw him as, he was just another wizard who thought that something was wrong. He was just another pureblood supremist who wanted to get rid of the muggleborns, make life harder for them, and essentially take over the wizarding war. According to her, Grindelwald was just the same, and he didn't cause the end of the world, so why would this Voldemort guy either?

Peter no longer thought of her as a proper mother who he could look up to; she just wasn't listening to what was happening in the news at all. Although the Daily Prophet was mostly lies, there was always the most basic amount of truth in there too. But if she thought to be so stupid, he couldn't help but think of her as a bit of a coward. He didn't think that he would mind that much if she died, but he couldn't say things like that to her, because at the end of the day they were still family. And blood ran thicker than water.

**A/N: This really didn't take me long at all, did it? Huh, not bad, I say. **

**I also admit that I really cannot predict when these chapters are going to go up- I update as I finish, so it's how fast I am. And whether I can be bothered to turn my laptop on. **

**Thank you to my second reviewer! Reviewing makes me feel all happy, that people are actually reading this, so thank you. Don't worry, I'm not holding the story hostage for reviews, and I won't promise cookies either. I'm keeping all cookies for myself, they taste too good. **

**So, I shall say goodbye, until next time. Who knows when that will be. My money is on Monday- barely any lessons on Monday; means more time to write.**

**Or watch TV, but we'll pretend I'll definitely write... ;)**


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: As always, unfortunately, I do not own Harry Potter or anything you recognise..._

**_There has been a bit of a time skip here, and I'll probably skip ahead to the Hogwarts Express in the next chapter. Unless something major happens._**

Chapter 10

**_Two weeks later._** Peter and Deb have met up again in the meantime, enjoying a nice day in Bristol this time. Deb couldn't afford a trip to London, and her job meant that she couldn't take the whole day off as she would need to, to go to London. They had a good time, and decided that they would definitely meet up again before the end of the summer, when Peter said that he was going back to boarding school.

The rest of the marauders, meanwhile, had taken to chilling at the Evans' when they were bored, with Mr Evans. Unfortunately for Lily, this meant that she was needed to be there as well, to keep them all in line. Of course, Peter was there occasionally as well, but he didn't feel as comfortable with Mr Evans as the other three marauders, because he just wasn't as outgoing as them. Sitting there quietly, just observing, wasn't quite the same thing really.

**_Now. _**On the Tuesday morning, though, two weeks after James and Remus first met Mr Evans, and two weeks after Peter met Deb in London for the first (and only, so far) time, Lily rolled out of bed at half seven in the morning, because a rather annoying owl was tapping relentlessly at her window. Not her favourite way of waking up, especially because it usually meant that her times of waking up late were coming to an end. Which they were really- it was the 15th of August already, and not long now until they would be back at Hogwarts. Where she would have to wake up at six every morning. Joy of joys.

But, thinking about Hogwarts meant that she thought of the owl that was tapping at her bedroom window again. Relentlessly. Which meant that she would have to actually get out of bed soon, at least before Petunia stormed into the room, demanding that the owl disappeared so that she could go back to her beauty sleep. And when Petunia got her beauty sleep interrupted, it wasn't a pretty sight. Especially when she had her hair in rollers again, as she had that night.

Lily dragged herself over to her window, to let the owl in. Why Hogwarts's owls didn't understand that people liked to sleep, she never understood. Marlene, Jo, and even Jay's birds always knew that Lily Evans was not to be disturbed until at least nine o' clock, when she was naturally awake in the holidays. Hogwarts owls, however, thought that everyone was awake at stupid hours of the morning. How many people were going to be awake at half seven in the morning in the summer holidays?

That didn't matter, though. This was going to be her book list for her final year at Hogwarts, so she had better buy them as soon as possible so that she could start studying. Not that all she did with her life was study, but she needed to pass her NEWTs with the highest grades possible if she wanted to actually get a job that paid proper money in the current wizarding climate. With Voldemort starting to crop up, people weren't sure that they wanted to employ muggleborns. They keep saying that it is for the muggleborn's safety, but who could believe that?

So, the sooner she got her booklist, and therefore her books, the sooner Lily could start studying so that she had a chance in hell of passing her NEWTs satisfactorily so that she would have a job after school. Meaning she would have to open the window to let the blasted owl into the house. At half past freaking seven in the damn morning.

When she had dragged her way to the window, she pulled it open so the owl could fly in. It was only a tawny owl, unlike some of the owls that frequented the great hall most mornings. Marlene's family had a great big eagle owl that they used to talk to her, while Jo had a cute little Grey owl that just flitted around like a cute little ball of fluff. The Hogwarts tawny owls were pretty boring in comparison.

Like the one with her letter. It had no personality- it just flew into her room, dropped the letter onto the bed and flew away again, straight away. Not the sort to stick around for a while, snack on some bacon, nip at a finger. Again, nowhere near as interesting as the owls that frequented that great hall at breakfast.

The letter itself looked the same as it had for the past seven years. A cream envelope, with her name in cursive green ink. It had always looked so pretty, but it looked sadder this year. This would be the last time that she received a letter like this, with her name so beautifully written in the same colour as her eyes. Her dad always said that it meant that it was her destiny, to be a wizard, but Lily just liked that they had chosen such a beautiful colour to write the address.

When Lily picked up the letter, it had the same weight that it had for the past couple of years. She must be prefect again for her last year. That was good, she liked that she was going to be able to finish her time in school in an attempt to keep the people of the school in order. Not that it often worked, but at least she could do her bit.

There were a couple of sheets of paper in the envelope; more than normal but probably what every seventh year got. It was a special year, after all. The first piece that she pulled out was her booklist, as expected;

_Miss Lily O. Evans, 7th Year_

_Booklist_

_Transfiguration: Advanced Human Transfiguration by Grelda Tattling_

_Charms: Standard Book of Spells (Grade 7) by Miranda Goshawk_

_Arithmancy: Adding up spells by Freya Babbling_

_Ancient Runes: Warding Runes by Lawson Frenman_

_Potions and Herbology books from last year will continue to be worked through this year, so remember your books from last year._

_Uniform_

_Normal uniform will have to be worn at all times during the school day between 0800 and 1600 hours. _

_The headmaster wishes to organise a ball during the school year to promote house unity during these times, so Dress Robes will be needed. Students can either buy these before returning to school, or purchase them from Hogsmeade during Hogsmeade weekends._

_Animals_

_In seventh year, you are now able to have an owl and one other pet; choosing between a cat or a toad as a possible second pet._

There was another letter in with her supply list as well, though. This one was a couple of pages long, and not what Lily was used to having in with her supply list.

_Dear Miss Lily Evans, _

_The Professors and I have had our annual teachers meeting, where we discuss the prefects and Heads of the school for the next year, and we have come to the decision that for the next school year, you will take the role of Head Girl of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. While this does not usually warrant a letter- normally we just include the badge with your supply list, and let you enjoy the surprise. _

_However, this year, we have come to the consensus that the way that the Head Boy and Girl work in the school needs to change, and therefore I have decided that it would probably be best to send the two of you a letter. As normal, I will not disclose the name of your co-head; I believe that the mystery surrounding that is part of the tradition, and I look forward to the two of you meeting at the train station. _

_Therefore, I have written you this letter. This is not the same letter that I have sent your co-head, but I trust you to trust me that I am telling you the truth when I say that I am telling the two of you the same message. I just believe in the personal touch, Miss Evans. _

_As you have probably read from the supply list, I thought that a school ball might be fun for the two of you to prepare this year. I had the idea that this may work as a way to increase house unity. We cannot deny the fact that a war is building up outside the four walls of Hogwarts, and the more we can do to prevent it from the inside, the better._

_Therefore, one of the major things that the two of you will be working on in the first term will be to organise this: the whole ball will be for you to organise; neither myself nor any of the professors will help with this ball. We trust that you and your co-head will do very well indeed. _

_Also, due to the unrest in the wizarding society, and the thought of Voldemort praying in most people's minds, I won't be as much of a presence in Hogwarts as I have been in your first six years at Hogwarts. I hope that you and your co-head will be able to work with Professor McGonagall, who has been newly appointed as Deputy Head as well as Head of Gryffindor, to run the school efficiently. When I am out of school, you will act with almost as much seniority as Professor McGonagall will have, although the two of you will only be students. _

_I don't want to appear prejudiced, but the Slytherins in sixth and seventh year will probably be the toughest for you to deal with- they most likely have already been introduced to Lord Voldemort, and expected to join his ranks sooner or later. I do not say this because they are Slytherins, I say this because of the families they belong to. Again, I am not prejudiced- for example, one Sirius Black is the furthest from a typical Black as possible. Unfortunately, though, this cannot be said for most of the other members of the families such as the Black family. So, I would just like to warn you, to keep your eye out for them._

_Another point, is that this year I have decided to try out the idea of a Head's dorm. Similar to the prefects bathroom, it will be a privilege that you have earned, and I believe that it will improve behaviour in the school- if they become a head, other students could earn this privilege too. There will be two bedrooms, a common room space and a small kitchen for you to cook should you wish. Of course, you cannot use school house elves, but the Head Boy may have personal house elves that he could use. If I were you, and he does, I would just use them too. Why not? _

_The Head's dorm will be situated behind the portrait of the unicorn, in the astronomy tower. There was a fairly large empty space there, so I decided to put it to good use. The current password is bumblebee, but feel free to change the password as soon as you and your co-head can decide on a new password._

_The final point of this letter is a reminder that I'm sure you wouldn't forget. As usual, I expect you to head the prefects meeting on the train with the Head Boy, and arrange patrol for the train and the first couple of days, as well as informing them what it means to be a prefect. After the welcome feast, I would like to invite both you and the Head Boy to my office for a cup of tea and a chat. The password will be 'Chocolate Frog'. I am rather partial to them._

_I look forward to congratulating you in person, but until then,_

_Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

The heads girl badge dropped out just then. Onto Lily's lap, as she sat there quite shocked and confused. She had never expected that to happen. While she was quite clever, she never thought that she was good enough to become Head Girl. Of course, it was something that she had always wanted to become, but she never thought herself worthy. It was certainly a privilege. And now, she desperately wanted to know who her head boy was. Hopefully it was Remus- he had a good head on his shoulders, and she already knew him. They were practically friends, really. Not as close as Remus was to the marauders, but Lily never thought she'd develop that sort of a bond with anybody.

Lestrange had been the Slytherin prefect, because apparently he was a big part of the Slytherin house. He wasn't so bad, he often just pretended that he didn't understand what was going on. Lily had believed him initially, but when it had just been the two of them a couple of times on rounds, he hadn't hexed her into oblivion, as any of the other Slytherins in her year would have. He was the youngest of the three Lestrange brothers, but he wasn't like his elder brothers that much. Especially not since marriage contract had been drawn up between the houses of Black and Lestrange.

The Ravenclaw male prefect was Jensen Smith. He was rather jumped up, thought incredibly highly of himself. He came from a family of pureblood supremism, and at the end of the day, he wasn't much better than the Slytherins. At least they said out loud that they thought all muggleborns were the scum of the Earth. Smith was clever enough to say it in a way most muggleborns thought he was complimenting them.

The Hufflepuff male prefect, however, had possibility. If it wasn't Remus, which it might not be due to his lycanthropy, it would certainly be the Hufflepuff prefect. He was funny, half blood, and fun to be around. Living with him 24/7 might be a bit much in the end, but then she could always return to her dorm on occasion. If there wasn't a bed, she would always sleep on a sofa in the common room. She wasn't fussy.

So. Her next year at Hogwarts was definitely going to be fun.

In Potter Manor, on window was always left open for the owl post to come in, since items like news from the Ministry tended to come at stupid times, and there wasn't always someone there to open a window for the owls. So, when the Hogwarts owl got to Potter Manor at half past seven with two letters in its beak, it flew straight in, deposited the mail on the respective piles, and flew back off to Hogwarts.

No-one woke up to find the two letters until about half ten, three hours later. Three hours after Lily had, and two and a half hours after she had written her letters to Jo and Marlene to tell them the good news.

Half ten was when James dragged himself up the stairs to see if the Hogwarts letters had come. Remus had just floo'ed to say he'd got his, and they should go to Diagon Alley soon to pick up the books. _Stupid Remus enjoying stupid books._ Since it was only half ten, and on a Tuesday morning too, Sirius was still dead to the world, and James would be to if it hadn't been for Remus.

Remus who hadn't mentioned Head Boy. So he hadn't got it, then. Which was terrible- a marauder as Head Boy would have made life so much easier when it came to evading prefects and heads. This probably meant it was that drifter from Hufflepuff, who had his head in the clouds and could never finish a conversation. Like he would make a good Head Boy.

Still, better than the dick from Ravenclaw and the idiot from Slytherin. Just a shame it wasn't Remus. Lily was probably Head Girl, too. She would be the best- clever, strong willed, and believes in the right things. As long as Dumbledore didn't wuss out because of the whole Voldemort of pureblood stuff. He probably wouldn't, but the pressure from the ministry must be huge.

This was what James was thinking while he went through the motions of picking up the post, and going downstairs to the small dining room, where there should still be some breakfast. If not, Wooky would be more than happy to make him some. She loved doing whatever she could for her 'Master Potter James the kind sir Master'. She was cute.

His envelope felt pretty heavy too, it must mean that he is Quidditch captain again. That's good, Gryffindor won last year, and he would be damned if Gryffindor didn't win in his last year. He was going to pull out all the stops as far as they would go, until they were just hanging there limply. Fortunately, it would only be a beater that would need replacing: there had only been one seventh year on the team last year. He hadn't wanted to be captain either, NEWTs had taken all of his attention.

By the time James sat down, Wooky appeared, folding her ears while surveying the empty table in front of her master.

"Wooky is sorry, Master Potter James sir, but Wooky thought you would sleep late so Wooky said no cook now, cook alter, but now you is here and food not is here. So Wooky will go now. What is Master Potter James sir wanting to eat, sir?" She looked disheartened that she hadn't been able to predict his early rising that James couldn't help but smile. She always put him in a good mood.

"I'll just have eggs and bacon today, Wooky. You know how I like them."

"Of course, master sir, I is doing it right away. Kind master sir, you is very good master sir!"

She popped off at that, to the kitchens where she would be doing his breakfast. It wouldn't take her long, but he could have a quick glance at his letter in the meantime. See how many books he would need this year, and whatnot. Have a look at the beautiful Quidditch captain badge that he would be getting again. It almost gave him a reason to wear his uniform properly, that badge did. Almost.

As Lily had, there were quite a few pieces of paper in James' envelope, but the supply list was first out again.

"Books, boring. Too many of them, I swear, we barely use them, either. They just want to bleed us dry. Dress robes, who could care. Marauder, we could turn up wearing anything and no-one would say anything at all. Animals, yeah, well, why would I want a cat or a toad? Boring boring boring. Letter, though. That seems interesting. Never got a letter before. Not even with the badge last year." James was talking out loud, just because he could, really. And, he didn't like it when it was too quiet.

The letter, though, he skimmed rather than read as Lily had. The details didn't matter at all to him, but it took him to the end of the letter to realise what it was actually telling him. That Remus wasn't Head Boy, because he had been chosen instead. Which he wasn't expecting whatsoever. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind.

But, if he was Head Boy, maybe Lily wouldn't be Head Girl. Maybe Dumbledore thought non-prefects should get the chance to do the whole telling the school what to do thing. Maybe someone like Jo, Lily's friend, or Elona, the ditzy Slytherin that everyone ignored and wouldn't admit was a Slytherin. Just to spice things up a little bit. Things like that would probably make Dumbledore chuckle or something.

Wooky had appeared at some point during the time James had been lost in thought, but she knew not to disturb him while he was zoned out. Once, he almost accidentally hexed her when she scared him one time. Those were just his reflexes, though.

Sirius, on the other hand, had decided that eleven o' clock was an alright time to wake up for once. And bounded straight down to the small dining room, where James probably would be. As he was, but that was just because James was predictable.

"Prongs!" Sirius jumped on the back of the chair, grabbing him around the waist and tackling him to the ground as best as he could, considering James was still sitting on the chair. "I got post!"

"I know, Sirius, I did too. Hogwarts letters, that's all," While James often enjoyed Sirius, he was too shocked to play along, he was Head Boy. What was going to happen now?

"Gimme gimme, then, I wanna see!" Sirius was obviously doing his toddler routine. He rotated between that, horny teenager and master prankmaster. His words, the last one. The toddler was the easiest to deal with, when he wasn't being himself, because he had the attention span of a toddler too, and often exhausted himself quite quickly. Life was certainly easy that way.

Sirius didn't wait, though, and made a grab for the two envelopes that were still on the table. Of course, seeing as there was still some weight to James', that interested him first, so he tipped the badges into his hand, to have a look at the shiny-ness of what he thought was an it.

"Prongs, we have a problem. You got Remus' letter too; the Head Boy badge is in here too, mate." Looking at the second badge calmed Sirius down slightly, because Dumbledore must be starting to go crazy if he sent the badge to James.

"No, mate. Apparently they are both for me this year."

Sirius just stared at him, and fainted as James had two weeks earlier. It was too much for him to take this early.

**A/N: That took me quite awhile in comparison, didn't it? I could say I've been busy, but to be perfectly honest I've been busy doing absolutely nothing this weekend. it's quite nice, really. Then I had an essay, but this came before my maths assessment! Which was technically due in today.. Oh well...**

**So, the summer will probably be over now, I mean, this is the tenth actual chapter, and we are still in the summer. I think it's time to go to Hogwarts now, don't you? If we do, I'm going to try and start/end each chapter with correspondence between Peter and Deb. Let's see how long I'll manage this for, yeah? **

**Anyway, now I shall sign off, and go back to writing the next chapter rather than doing that assessment. Writing's much more interesting than algorithms. **

**I'll update soon, I promise, shall we say saturday as a provisional date? Yeah? See you Saturday, then! ;)**


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: As always, unfortunately, I do not own Harry Potter or anything you recognise..._

**_Well, they're on their way to Hogwarts. Technically._**

Chapter 11

_Deb, _

_So, I'm back at school now, well, on the way to the train station if I'm honest with you. Back up to the most isolated highlands in Scotland. Why my parents insisted I go here for school I'll never know, but I do know I am grateful because I did meet some of my best friends there. But, now it means that I'm not going to be able to see you until Christmas, hence this letter. It's going to be how we're going to stay I touch now. Apparently, having phones anywhere near the school is detrimental to our education, so we're going to have to write from now on, like I said before. If you send it to my mother's house, she'll send it on to me- the school is even strict about letters. She'll be our go-between, if you like. _

_Anyway, London was fun, yesterday. One last hurrah before I'm away for a good couple of months. And, I'm going to do it. Not on the train, but when we get back to school so that there are places for me to hide, I'm going to explain to her that I'm not sure a relationship is the best thing for us at the moment, and that we should try it as friends rather than girlfriend and boyfriend. I'd do it on the train, but then she could spend eight hours screaming at me, and that wouldn't be nice for anyone, I thought._

_My friends and I have been planning the prank to end all pranks, as well. At least, for now it will be the prank to end all pranks. I'm sure Sirius will come up with at least five more completely epic ones before the year is out. It helps that one of us is head boy this year, too, although it isn't the one we were expecting. It isn't Sirius, don't worry. I think our whole year would have a heart attack if he was put in a position of power. No, it's his 'brother', as they like to call themselves (well, they say we are all brothers, but those two actually live together now, so Remus and I have started calling them brothers)- James. James who is head over heels for the girl who has been rejecting him for- Well, he claims that he has been smitten since he first saw her, which was technically in first year, but I think he means when he saw her at the train station two years ago. She was wearing a summer dress and no robes coat and looked quite pretty. Problem is, before then, both he and Sirius were having a competition as to how many girls they can get with before they leave school, so they both had a bit of a reputation. Not a good one, either._

_But, that's enough about my two idiotic friends. Remus hasn't done anything interesting lately, so I can't tell you what my sane friend is like on a daily basis. I promise, it isn't just me being tugged around by three people who should be on some anti-hyperactivity medicine. I'm laughing now, at the thought of Remus being hyper in the way that Sirius always is. I'd pay good money to see that. _

_I'm all packed too, now, which is quite sad. I'll see if I can slip down to London one weekend to meet you- it will be easier to get there than Bristol, I'm afraid, but we can continue house hunting for you? Until next time, then,_

_Pete_

Peter put down the letter, and just looked at it. It seemed alright, and perfectly muggle. There didn't seem anything out of the ordinary there. Not that muggle studies had really helped with that, it was more marauder studies. But, it was written now, and he really needed to be off if he didn't want to miss the train. Especially considering he would have to make a detour to a post office to post this to Deb. He was lying when he said his mother would be the middle man. Any post for him that got sent to the house was automatically sent to him, the same way any post sent to anyone who lived in the Pettigrew house was automatically sent to them, wherever they were. Muggle or magical post too, fortunately. But, he couldn't really explain that, could he? And he'd send his letters from the post office in Hogsmeade; they knew how to deal with muggle post, although it could be quite expensive.

It was just coming up to ten o' clock now, though, and he wanted to go via the post office at Bristol, for Deb's letter, and the marauders always wanted to be at the train station early, to make sure that they got the best carriage, or at least a carriage where they would be able to annoy the most people. Sirius' requirement. Of course, it ended up that only Peter and Remus got there early; James and Sirius would rock up ten minutes before the train was due to leave, and spend those ten minutes on the platform, 'catching up with people'. Their words. Not that Peter really minded- it gave him a couple more minutes to prepare for living with Sirius 24/7 again. Something that he was grateful for. The last couple of minutes of sanity in his life for the next, well, year really.

This time, though, James at least would have to be there earlier, because he was Head Boy, and therefore he would need to be there to keep an eye on everyone. He said that the letter said he had to be there at half past ten, at the very, very latest. Sirius wouldn't be able to deal with 'catching up' with everyone for that long, so Sirius would be in the carriage before eleven o' clock, that was for certain. More of Sirius' insanity to start off the day in just the best way possible.

James and Sirius were running around Potter mansion, in an attempt to find everything that they wanted to take back to Hogwarts with them. Including all the trick wands they had bought last time they were in Diagon Alley, and all the potions ingredients they might need to make some potions for their pranks. Of course, they could have done this yesterday, or the day before that, or even the day before that, but that would mean that they would have to plan ahead, which they never did unless it was for pranks. And even then, there was a time limit of how far ahead they would go.

It didn't matter if they ended up forgetting something , though, because Mrs Potter would just send it out to them in the next couple of days, when they would inevitably remember what it was that they would inevitably forget. So, James was running around the manor, picking up all his clothes that he had left strewn around there in the couple of months that he had been home, while Sirius was holed up in his bedroom, trying to figure out how big he would need to expand his suitcase so that everything would fit in. Five times still hadn't done it, but too many times and the suitcase would break- reverting back to the regular size and there was no way that he would be able to fit all his stuff in the suitcase if it wasn't expanded whatsoever.

This happened every year, it was just that this year it was happening half an hour early, because James had to be at the train station at half past ten, which James had taken to mean twenty past, so Sirius was rushing when he hadn't had 'all of my beauty sleep. Look, I'm ugly today! I can't start the year ugly'. Normally, James would have relented, said that he could have had the extra half hour of sleep, so that they could get to the train ten minutes before the gate closed and the train left as usual, but this year James was Head Boy, and he wanted to make an effort, at least for the first day.

Lily was happily sitting down to breakfast with her family, the last time that they would have a sit down meal with either of their daughters for a while. Mrs Evans would have liked to have said the whole family, but while Petunia had been invited, she had wanted to stay in her new flat. 'To get settled in'. Ignoring the fact that she had been getting settled in for the past couple of weeks, but Lily didn't mind at all. It meant that her father was able to be more natural, relaxed, and talking like magic as he had been almost constantly since the marauders had started coming over. It had only been five times that they had met up, but it had been enough for Lily to decide that she never wanted her father to meet the marauders again.

Mrs Evans was more comfortable, as well, because there was only one daughter there, so she wasn't abandoning either of them. She wasn't obviously favouring either of them, by talking to one more than the other, so she was able to be more relaxed overall. She had wanted to take her youngest daughter to the train station for her last year at Hogwarts, but Lily had been right when she had said that that wasn't going to work. They always had to leave really early to drive there, and Lily had said that it would be nicer for them to relax and have a leisurely breakfast, before Lily apparates herself to the platform to get on the train, and keep an eye on everyone. As well as finding out who the Head Boy is. Even the marauders hadn't found out, or if they had they refused to spill to her. When she asked Remus straight out, though, whether it was him he had said no, which was sad. She didn't really want to spend a year living with the Hufflepuff douchebag. Maybe she would sleep in Gryffindor as she had been for the past six years regardless.

That didn't matter right now, though. She would meet her co-head in about fifteen minutes, when she got to the train station, but she wasn't at the train station at the moment, so she just focussed on the breakfast with her family for now. She wasn't planning on coming back home for either Christmas or Easter, hopefully, and she had been planning on buying a house with Jo after they graduated Hogwarts, so this would be the last family breakfast like this for a while, at least. Not that it could be counted as a proper family breakfast, but then Petunia didn't like to admit that they were sisters, let alone family, so it would count for now.

Peter ran through the wall between platforms nine and ten at precisely sixteen minutes past ten, and almost ran into his fellow marauder, but not the one that he had thought he would run into.

"James? Wow, you are early, taking this Head thing seriously, I see." If it had been most other people, one of them would have probably fallen over, but James was tall enough that he wouldn't fall over, and Peter was pulling his while suitcase behind him, so that stabilised him.

"Yeah, well, old man Dumbles mentioned it in his letter, so I thought I might as well. Find out who I'll be ruling the school with, too. This is gonna be a good year, I'm telling you." James was smiling, and his luggage was nowhere near, so he must have already stashed it on the train. The train that must have only just got there.

"How did you get Sirius to get up this early? Cause I'm guessing you brought him with you, didn't leave him at home, that might be kinda dangerous."

"Yeah, well, I'll convince the Head Girl to let him off the first five detentions she'd set. How I'm going to manage that, I don't know, we'll just see who the Head Girl ends up being."

"What if you don't manage, though? Can't you just not, cause he's upheld his half, hasn't he?"

"Yeah, he took my broom as collateral." James' face was a picture at that- if he was in a stable relationship with anything it was that broom- he had had it for three years now, and for those three years Gryffindor had won the cup. James thought it was the broom, and Peter thought it was wisest just to agree with him. He never let anyone else ride it, and touching it was dodgy- you never knew whether he would be alright with it or not. He had a sportsman's mentality all the way.

"Ouch."

James didn't even respond, just looked at him, as if to say 'duh'. Saying 'ouch' was an understatement, really.

"Alright then, I hope she likes you, whoever she is. And her terms aren't too hard for you to agree to." Peter gave him a wry smile; that was all the sympathy that he could muster up that early in the morning. Because, of course twenty past ten was early in the morning for him, or any of the marauders, when the summer holidays had only just finished.

"Yeah, well, I think I'm safe, as long as it isn't Evans. But, if I'm Head Boy, I doubt she's going to be Head Girl, following the logic of the old man."

"I suppose, but I almost wish it is her. Just to see her face when you ask her." Peter smirked at that, picturing the absolute rage that Lily would fly into, being asked for a favour like that. From the times that they had all gone over to the Evans' house, to see Mr Evans or for whatever reason they went, Lily seemed to be starting to tolerate the three of them, having already learnt to be Remus' friend, but a favour like that would ruin the ceasefire. And the blow up would be one of the best in Hogwarts history, for sure.

"Yeah, well, I'm not a masochist. If it's her, I'm just not going to ask. I'll be able to steal my broom back from Sirius at some point, I'm sure of it. It's not like he has my cloak to hide it under, and invisibility spells run out eventually."

"Yeah, well, you never know, I mean, she has started to tolerate Sirius, hasn't she?" Peter knew that he should be agreeing with what James had just said, but he couldn't help himself. A summer without the Evans-Potter rows always seemed like a bit too long, and if he could guarantee one, then he would as far as possible. Selling popcorn to the spectators always brought a good bit of money in, for presents and savings and stupid stuff like that. Because he had had a peek into Lily's room one of the times that he was there, and saw the Head Girl badge on her dressing table. Not that he had imparted this information to any of the other marauders- it was far too good for him to give up for free. And, watching James fret was always so much fun, when he was suffering from Potter-Evans withdrawal, as he called it.

"I suppose, I mean, five isn't even that many with how many he will end up getting by the end of the year, is it?" It was working, James was starting to think about it. The money he could make from this one would blow all other records he had held before out of the water, that's for sure. Now, he just needed to find Lily, maybe Sirius too, and get her a little annoyed to make sure she would explode with a bang. A bit of fun before the year starts.

"See, mate. Anyway, I doubt she'd be too hard on you. I mean, she would have to work with you for the rest of the year. That's even if it's her, I mean, we can't say for certain yet, can we?" He couldn't be too cocky, that would give the game away that he had already found out who the Head Girl was. That would ruin the whole plan.

"Exactly! I mean, it could be that Hufflepuff girl, or your girlfriend, or someone nice and normal like that. And that would make everyone's life easier, wouldn't it? Yeah, as I was thinking before, I doubt it's even going to be her. The old man does seem to be losing his mind, just a little bit."

James was off again, thinking about things deeply as he tended to whenever he had a Lily Evans problem arising. He must think that it's something that he does that no-one else knows about, and while Sirius might be too hyperactive to notice, nothing passes both Peter and Remus buy. And this one passed neither of them by. He gets the stupid look on his face, and just starts walking in a random direction, not looking where he was going or anything like that. In fact, Peter wouldn't be surprised if half the school didn't know James' 'thinking about Lily' face. Just so that they knew when they had to avoid him, lest he just literally not see them whatsoever.

But, that was fine, really. Peter needed to escape, so he could find Lily and sew the anti-James seeds. They weren't even that bad, really, but her hate for him was so deep set that just mentioning his name would set her off sometimes. How she had managed to control herself when they were all at her house, Peter could only congratulate her on her determination. Hopefully, though, a lack of family would mean that her fuse will have shrunk a bit.

The platform was empty enough, too, that Peter could see everyone who was there. And, unless she was on the train already, which Peter doubted, she wasn't here yet. Which made sense; it was only twenty four past ten, and she tended to arrive at bang on half past, if the past couple of years have been anything to go by. Which meant that Peter had exactly five minutes to dump his trunk, locate Sirius, and set up the Lily trap, as he thought he should call it. Because, it was no good Lily finding James before everyone was there except the early stragglers who were getting the good carriages. He would make no money if the only people to observe the argument, and therefore buy the popcorn to go with the argument, were the ones who were at the station right now. No, the meeting should be postponed until about five to eleven, for maximum money making potential.

The train looked as beautiful and clean as it always did, and by the looks of it, Remus had saved them the carriage that they always took, at the end of the train. It was one of the last carriages, as far away from the prefects as possible, so they could have the maximum trouble making potential. Things like this had to be considered, so that everything would be as good as possible.

The thing was, like Peter was expecting, Sirius was lying across one side of the carriage, almost dramatically and tragically, as if this was the worst thing that had happened to him, having to be on the train almost three quarters of an hour before he usually made his appearance. Quite amusing, for sure.

Remus, on the other hand, was as cheery as ever, if not cheerier. He was obviously enjoying the pain that Sirius, more than James, was suffering. It was the same joy that Peter had been feeling, because really, they were as sadistic as each other, at least, as far as Gryffindors could be sadistic, because the Slytherin and Gryffindor definitions were really different. For them, sadistic was causing actual pain and really enjoying it, whereas Peter and Remus just enjoyed any mental torment that they could afflict on each other. It was a game, really.

"How are you this fine, fine morning my good friend Peter?"

"Oh, yes, my good buddy. This morning has been going really rather well indeed. A bright and beautiful morning as they always are, good man."

"I know, my fellow marauder, this morning seems to be panning out to be a beautiful day."

They just looked at each other at that, and tried to keep their straight faces. But just looking at Sirius lying on the chairs, trying to pretend like he was still asleep when he was obviously listening in and getting more and more annoyed at what they were saying. It just meant that they had to burst out laughing at the sight of their friend. Remus almost fell off the chair that he was sitting on, he was laughing so hard.

"Yeah, right, you guys. Laugh at the poor guy who should still be asleep." Sirius had given up the ghost of pretending that he was asleep, because it was just rude to having people laugh at him while he was pretending to be asleep.

"Oh, but I thought that was part of being a good marauder, man." That was Remus, trying to pretend to be innocent, but the fact that he was still on the floor, and Peter was still doubled over, laughing his guts up.

Sirius just looked at Peter with an eyebrow raised, just asking why Peter was still laughing if this was to be true, without asking anything out loud. Because that was too much effort, to actually say something out loud with actual words.

"Alright, alright, but you being awake this early in the morning is just the best thing ever." Peter had managed to curb his laughter to spit out those couple of words, but after that he just had to start laughing again. The expressions on Sirius' face were just too much for Peter to handle.

Sirius just glared at him again, but he couldn't hold the glare for much longer, because Remus had starting laughing again and it was starting to get just a little bit contagious. It only took him another minute before he was rolling around laughing as well. He wasn't even sure what he was laughing at though, that was the problem.

They were just about to start laughing again, but before they could Lily walked straight into the carriage, not with fury in her eyes, but with annoyance. At Sirius in particular, for some reason, but that wasn't to say that Peter and Remus were free from the cold glares that Lily was sending. Peter would think that they were aimed at James, except for the fact that he was the only marauder not in the compartment.

"How many times did you come to my house this summer, Sirius?"

Sirius looked like he didn't want to answer, but the look on Lily's face made him think otherwise. "Seven, I think?"

"And for how many of those times did you know Potter was Head Boy?" _First name with Sirius, but still just Potter. Interesting…_

"Four, I think…" Sirius was sounding more nervous as he had to keep speaking. Probably for one of his first times ever.

"And you chose not to tell me, because?"

Sirius didn't know what to say at that, because what could he say. They were turning into friends now, and this was something that he really should have told her, seeing as they were friends. But, she didn't seem angry, that didn't seem to be an issue. Although, that may be yet to come. There hadn't been any raised voices yet, maybe she just saw him and came to Sirius for answers.

Peter, though only had one thing that he was thinking about. _I hope they will still argue, or there goes the proceeds._

**A/N: I said Saturday, and here I am. Still Saturday, at least in England. Finally a deadline that I have actually managed to keep properly. That's good, isn't it?**

**I thought that I would get further, maybe the train would start going, but I felt that all of that should be said instead. At least, it felt like that. I think next time it will be a lot faster, and we will finally meet Lily's friends properly, rather than just a mention of them. I mean, we haven't even met them yet, have we?**

**Deadlines are hard work, though, for some reason the words come faster when they can come whenever they want. Which is rather weird, but hey, so am I. So, I shall say I shall see you next time, whenever that shall be, but I can at least promise that it will be within the week.**

**Well, until the next time ;)**


	13. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer: As always, unfortunately, I do not own Harry Potter or anything you recognise..._

**_And, they are still only on their way to Hogwarts_**

Chapter 12

James was still on the platform, keeping an eye out for who was arriving early from seventh year. The only problem with this plan was that, really, a lot of seventh years were quite early this year. Probably because it was their last year and all, but none of them seemed to be wearing a head girl badge. There were a couple of prefects, but they had been prefects that year so that didn't mean anything. Although, he hadn't seen Lily either, so maybe that meant that she wasn't head girl either. Because, surely if she was, she would be on the platform too. Keeping an eye on people in the same way that he was. He didn't know whether he was happy or sad about that. 24/7 living would have meant that she couldn't stay mad at him for the whole year, but then, 24/7 living would have meant so many more arguments, at least at the beginning.

But, seeing as the mysterious head girl wasn't at the station yet, James didn't know why it meant that he had to be on the platform. He had done as Dumbles had asked, and arrived at the station half an hour before the train left. It didn't explicitly say on the letter that he had to stay on the station, and help all the other students. He just had to be there. Which meant he could still be there, just with his friends in his compartment instead.

Anyway, there was no-one on the station who was in any dire need of help at the moment, or anyone looking confusedly at the badge pinned to his chest (yes, of course he was wearing it. And yes, a total of fifteen people had looked twice by now), so chatting with his friends was perfectly acceptable now.

He was heading down the train, smiling at the people he saw, acting like a proper head boy and all that; his friends should be in the carriage at the end, so he wasn't really paying any attention to any of the other carriages. They weren't his friends, so they didn't matter that much.

When he got to the carriage at the end, though, he was slightly confused. Because, there with Sirius, Remus and Peter was one ginger girl, looking royally pissed at Sirius. The annoyance was slightly negated by the fact that she was sitting with her feet on his lap. They had become like that, those two. They weren't friends, or at least neither of them would say that they were each other's friend, but they were certainly friendlier with each other than they had been before. In the way that tended to use each other as footstools more often than not. James didn't really understand it completely, because they had been doing it since the first time the marauders had gone to visit the Evans', so this tradition of a sort must have started before then. Which, basically meant that it must have been the night that he slept there. So much must have happened that night.

It wasn't like James was jealous of Sirius, because it wasn't like Sirius had any sort of romantic relationship with Lily, so there wouldn't be any arguments about who Lily should end up with amongst the marauders. It was just that, well, he was now the second marauder that Lily listened to, and gave a chance to, so why had she not decided to do that same to him? Still? And the argument about him sleeping around too much for her to be able to be his friend. Because, really, Sirius was just as bad as he had been, if not worse, and she was happy to talk to him.

She hadn't really been yelling at him, though, when he had been round to her house. That may have been slightly linked to the fact that she didn't speak to him at all, but he was just going to gloss over that. Not speaking and therefore not yelling was better than just speaking and yelling. Because yelling was loud and hurt his ears, well, all the time.

James couldn't just leave, though. That would be admitting defeat, that he was slightly scared of her, and that he was actually trying to do as she asked. Like he only lived to do as she asked. Which was not true- he was his own person and he wasn't ever going to change for anyone whatsoever, no matter who they were. Even if they were the love of his life. Fortunately or unfortunately, though, Peter had spotted him, and he was more than happy to point out the fact that James was outside the door.

"James! You made it off the platform!" Peter was overly happy, but his eyes were glinting; he knew what he was doing by saying hello. He was alerting everyone in the carriage that James was there, James with the Head Boy badge on his robes. Of course, that wouldn't have mattered to either Sirius or Remus, but then that wasn't who Peter was trying to get the attention of. It was the fourth member of the carriage, the one who wasn't normally there.

"I'd better go then, huh? Leave you four to do whatever you do." Lily was smiling as she was turned around, almost sliding off Sirius' lap, just in quite an elegant way. She turned around to go out of the carriage, and almost seemed to walk straight out. She didn't look at anyone in particular, but as she was doing so she was saying, "I had better start trying to find my friends, too. I swear, this is their seventh year catching this train, but they seem to manage getting lost every year."

Lily was smiling, and there wasn't any reaction to seeing James, but the smile faltered slightly when she saw the badge on his robes. The faltering seemed to be as if she believed it, but she turned back around when she had left the carriage and smiled at the four of them. "Really, guys? That's your first one? Amateur's, the lot of you."

She didn't stop to hear whatever they had to say, though, instead turning right and heading back down the train. If she had stopped to laugh there, James, or Sirius, or maybe even Remus or Peter would have told her that it wasn't a joke, that James actually was going to be Head Boy alongside her Head Girl )okay, maybe James wouldn't have said that, but that's only because he is still in the dark about the Head Girl that year). That it wasn't a prank, for once, that it had come in the owl post, along with a letter from Dumbledore explaining, well, nothing really. Nothing as to why James was chosen over all the other boys in seventh year. All the letter talked about was what he needed to do as Head Boy, but it was still addressed to him, he was the recipient, and he was this year's Head Boy.

There was so much that could have been said, but Lily had just walked away, calmly and almost smirking at them. Off to find her friends, Jo and Marlene. They would probably be joined by Elena when the train got going, but that wasn't because the four of them were friends, it was just that they were the least evil in Elena's eyes. She wasn't one for human company. Of course, on the Hogwarts Express, human company was unavoidable, so sitting with the quieter of her fellow Gryffindor year mates was the easiest thing to do. Lily had even come to enjoy her silent company. The fact that she was always there, it reassured her. It was all real, and she was really going back again. But that's getting a bit ahead, there is still fifteen minutes before the train is due to leave now.

Of course, because Lily had walked away, mocking the four of them about the supposed prank they were trying to pull, the four marauders were in a state of shock. Because, Lily Evans, strictest girl in school had looked at James without screaming at him without an adult in the room, mocked them on a supposed prank, and ignored the fact that if it had been a prank, they were abusing the school's prefect body.

"She, she thought this was a prank?" James was still standing there, completely in shock. He had been expecting screaming, earache, and a couple of hexes thrown in for good luck. Instead, she had just laughed at them and walked away. Not regular Lily Evans behaviour.

"Apparently so." Sirius was equally as confused, staring at the carriage door that she had just walked through. He knew that she had developed a sort of friendship with him, but he didn't think it would continue over to Hogwarts, and he didn't think it would lead to her, well, condoning any of their pranks, in any way whatsoever. "Well, at least it makes your end of the deal easier to uphold, my good man."

"Deal? But we still don't know who the Head Girl is, man." He looked completely confused, but Remus and Peter just burst out laughing. Full on belly laughter, too. Rolling around on their seats, all of that stuff.

"I know you need glasses, Prongs, but seriously? Are you blind?"

"Blind? What did I miss?" James' confused face was a picture, especially since he could tell that the other marauders were in on whatever it was with Lily.

"Her badge, maybe?"

"Yeah, regular prefect badge. She's had one since fifth year, guys. I think you might be the blind ones."

"Yeah, because a prefect badge says Head Girl."

"Okay, now you have to be kidding me. We're working together? For the whole year?" James was starting to smile, starting to realise this may be a good thing, in the long run.

"Yep. And she thinks you being Head Boy is a prank"

James' smile broke at that, turning into a sulk. Because when Lily finally realised that the badge wasn't a joke, she was going to blow her top completely.

"Damn it."

Lily, meanwhile, had got to about the middle of the train before she found the carriage that her friends had decided to inhabit for this trip. Those were Jo's words, she liked to pick the most extreme and unusual way of saying things as possible. And most of the time, her comments were rather explicit. For once, though, her comments were rather normal and acceptable. For once.

Marlene was there too, sitting in the carriage opposite and laughing along. Elena wasn't there yet, but it wasn't yet eleven o' clock, so Lily didn't really expect her to be there. Anyway, at eleven, lily needed to head to the front of the train, and the prefects carriage, so she could head the first prefect meeting with whoever the actual Head Boy was. Because she couldn't believe that it was James Potter.

"Lily the lovely! You've come to join us!" Someone must have slipped extra sugar into Marlene's coffee that morning, because even on a school day, she didn't like waking up before midday. Even when she had been doing it for three weeks, five days in a row, it was a struggle to make her wake up. So, for her to be this cheery and chipper, and on the first day when she had to wake up before midday, well, something was up.

"Yes, of course I have. I'm not needed at the prefect carriage until eleven, so I've still got fifteen minutes with you two."

"Ahh, yes, because you will always come to us and spend as much time in our company as possible won't you, dear friend of ours." This was Jo, adding her bit to the discussion.

"So if you only just got here, then you must have only just got to the station, because we are such tight friends, us three, aren't we?"

Lily guessed that maybe there was something that she was missing, some little detail that she should have mentioned but hadn't, but she was coming up blank. Yes, she had gone to check in on the marauders before coming here, but Marlene or Jo shouldn't know that. Not that they would be that annoyed, hopefully. Jo would probably convince everyone that Lily was starting to talk to James, and that they would be the new hot couple this year. Which would be totally blowing it out of proportion.

"What are you to talking about?" Lily went to sit down; she was going to spend long enough walking up and down this train in about an hour- she might as well sit down while she could.

"Well, Miss Lily, we decided to turn up early today, seeing as this would be our last first of September ever. Especially considering you would be our honoured Head Girl this year, so you would be up and down the train for most of the journey."

"The two of us had agreed that we would come here early together, and surprise you, you know, as good friends do. So when we saw you getting on the train, we thought we wouldn't call you- we would find you on the train and surprise you there. Only you weren't in our normal carriage, this one I would like to add, so we thought we would go looking for you. And we were quite surprised, we would like to say, that you were in a carriage at the end of the train. Sitting on one marauder lap."

"Although not the marauder lap that we would have expected, instead that of one Mr Sirius Black. So, what have you not informed us about, of your lovely summer holiday, Lily?"

Lily was screwed at that. Because, this means that they wanted to talk about the summer, which would lead to talking about the marauders and how they featured in her summer, which wasn't ever going to end well. If she was honest with herself, it was something that she wanted to gloss over completely. Sirius just made it so that she couldn't, because apparently she was the 'best footstool around'. It sounded like a compliment. She took it as a compliment.

"It's all your fault, you know, Jo. I'm saying that now." That wasn't enough for her two friends- they just continued to look at her, judging her in the way they could together. It was a talent of theirs, they liked to say.

"Alright, so, after going out to celebrate your birthday, I came across Sirius getting yelled at by a muggle cop-"

"Sirius now, is it?" Jo couldn't resist that comment, because until the end of last year, Sirius had been 'Black', and said with so much disgust as well.

Lily just rolled her eyes at her, because that was one stupid comment, and they would probably get a whole lot worse as the story went on. At least in the eyes of her two friends. "Alright, so, for some reason the alcohol that you two forced into my throat that night made me feel, well, bad for him, so I stepped in, told the cop it was alright, I'd lost him for a moment or two and that I'd take him home, make him sober up, all that rot. So, I did that, apparated home with him and put him on my sofa. But, unfortunately, my mom saw him, thought we were together or something, so wanted to meet him when she and my dad came home. Long story short, he and my dad hit it off when they met, and my dad invited all the marauders round. An offer that they took him up on, multiple times. Unfortunately. And Sirius decided that I was his new footstool, and now we are kinda not really but sort of friends?" Lily was asking a question at the end, because she wasn't sure if they were friends or not. They talked quite a bit, and he made her laugh, but he had his marauders and she had her friends, and they only mixed as much as year mates tended to mix.

"Friends? So, that's two of the marauders down for you. I thought you hated them all." Marlene couldn't help make that little dig, because all through first, second and third year, Lily would always talk about how much she hated the marauders. She called them idiots, and rule breakers, and some of the worst people in the year, because they never took school seriously. They goofed off, pulled the pranks, and generally annoyed the hell out of her. James and Sirius had always been the worst, but that wasn't to say that she hadn't hated Remus or Peter either.

So, when Remus had become the other Gryffindor prefect in fifth year, and Lily had developed the tentative friendship that had become proper friends over the years that they had been prefects together, Marlene and Jo had mocked her for doing what she said she would never do. They hadn't let it rest for the whole year, because her complete U-turn in terms of Remus was one of the funniest things that had happened apart from the pranks.

It didn't matter that Marlene got along with all of the marauders, or that Jo was always hanging out with James or Peter when she wasn't with her girl friends; it was the fact that Lily had decided that maybe all the marauders weren't the worst people in the world.

"Yeah, I mean, Remus is one of the lesser marauders, but Sirius? Prankster above all others? I never thought that he would be the next on the list of Lily's friends." Jo said it in a fake friendly way, just to annoy Lily. It did as well, because it resulted in Lily glaring at her, quite harshly too.

It looked as if Marlene and Jo were going to launch into another of their discussions on Lily and the marauders, but the whistle went on the platform before they could, meaning the train was going to leave in five minutes. There had always been a five minute warning, so that the little first years knew they had to leave their parents, and the seventh years had to leave their older partners for another couple of months. Last year, the parting between Alice and Frank had been one of the funniest, because they had completely ignored the five minute whistle and Alice had had to run with the train and jump on so that she wasn't left on the platform. It was made funnier that she was Head Girl that year, too. It would have been bad if she had missed the train because she couldn't part from her boyfriend.

"And there's the whistle, looks like I'd better be off, I'll see you in a bit after my rounds, alright guys?" Lily was saying that whilst walking out of the carriage, so there wasn't really anything that her friends could have said, because she was gone up the train to prepare. She was a flighter rather than a fighter.

Marlene and Jo just looked at each other, smirked, and carried on. She would be back sooner or later, they could just carry on with it all then.

The prefect carriage was empty when Lily got there, but then she wasn't expecting anyone there with her. She was early, and although she was telling herself that it was because she wanted to make a good impression as Head Girl, she knew it was just to get away from her friends. To step back, and figure out what she was going to say.

The prefect meeting was supposed to start at eleven o' clock, when the train left the platform, but it tended to start at about five past, as that was the time that everyone got there. Normally, Lily would be one of those getting there a bit after eleven, and she would still be one of the first. The new prefects were always the first ones there, because they were normally so excited that they had been made prefect. Then would be the sixth and seventh years together, normally Ravenclaw then Hufflepuff, followed by Gryffindor and Slytherin. Even though those two were the last houses to get there, they still managed not to sit next to each other. Although, everyone knew it was safer to have them nowhere near each other, especially with this so called Dark Lord on the rise. Better safe than sorry, as people said.

Thinking about the prefects that she would be managing this year, there would be the ones from last year, as well as the new Gryffindor female seventh year prefect and the male seventh year prefect from whichever house the Head Boy came from. The Gryffindor prefect wasn't Jo or Marlene, and it wouldn't be Elena, so it must be Kath or Millie. Hopefully Kath, she was the lesser of the two evils, and slightly less of a bitch. Not that Lily hated either of them, but they were incredibly pretty and they knew it, while Lily just wasn't. They had split in first year, and while they were all friends really, Kath and Millie hung out more with the Hufflepuffs in their year rather than Lily, Jo and Marlene.

The fifth year prefects should be nice, because overall the fifth years were an alright bunch. The Slytherins would inevitably grow up to be like the current sixth and seventh year Slytherins, well, excluding Lestrange the third, but they were still naïve enough to not be so bad just yet.

It was just who the Head Boy would be. Which reminded Lily of the joke Potter was playing at the moment. Not their funniest, but amusing nonetheless. She almost believed it for a minute, but there was no way that Dumbledore would let him be Head Boy- the only person worse than him would be Sirius.

Lily was still lost in her thoughts when the carriage door was opened, and by Remus. The only thing was that James was following him. _Obviously going all out on this one then. _

"You do know that you actually have to be Head Boy to be in here, don't you Potter? That making a badge isn't enough?" Lily was smiling behind her words, because she found that she didn't mind this prank. It made her feel better about whoever her Head Boy was, because they wouldn't be as bad as James Potter.

"Yeah, well, I kind of am." James sounded unsure of himself, but he passed is badge over to Lily, and she saw it was identical to hers only it said Boy rather than Girl. It was the real deal, then. And no-one would lend Potter the badge, so the only explanation would be that he was Head Boy. There was nothing that Lily could say to that.

_Hi Pete,_

_No offense, but your school sounds stupid if it doesn't let you make phone calls. Especially with you being in Scotland, and so cut off from everyone else anyway. But, hey, it works because your grades did sound really good. I'm afraid this is going to have to be a short one today, because work is just killing me at the moment, but don't worry, the rest will be longer._

_To be honest with you, I kind of enjoy writing letters, and receiving letters. It makes me feel special, to have post for once. And post to look forward to, as well._

_London was great, wasn't it? Please come down again, and as soon as possible; you just make it so much more entertaining than it is when I am stuck walking around on my own. None of my other friends will come with me, but that might be because I ban all types of alcohol. Oh well. _

_Good luck with the girlfriend, my fingers are crossed for you! Just stick to my advice and you should be fine!_

_Sorry it's so short,_

_Deb_

**A/N: As Deb said, I'm sorry it is so short in comparison, well, at least it feels like it's short, especially for how long it took me to write it. Sorry about that, too. School work, I have to say, but it's half term now so I should get another couple of chapters in the bag.**

**However, not just yet, because I've got a school trip Sunday to Tuesday, so Wednesday at the earliest. **

**See you soon, I hope you enjoy it.**

**;)**


	14. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer: As always, unfortunately, I do not own Harry Potter or anything you recognise..__._

**_So, they have made it to Hogwarts, finally. It only took, what, two and a half chapters for one train ride?_**

Chapter 13

Lily just sat there, saying nothing as the rest of the prefects for that school year walked in. Her replacement as seventh year female Gryffindor prefect was Kath, something that Lily could be grateful for, but she hadn't even realised that there was anyone else in the carriage beside her, Remus and the new Head Boy. Who was James Potter. The prefects that were walking in looked over to her, to see if she was wearing the Head Girl badge that they all expected, which she was. But, she was also just sitting there, not talking to anyone, and not smiling at the prefects, especially a couple of the seventh year prefects who considered Lily to be one of their friends.

Of course, the prefects were clever, they knew that something must have made Lily act like that- she wouldn't just stop talking and interacting with people for no reason. Which was when they tended to turn to see exactly what it was that Lily was looking at so intently. Of course, it was James Potter, who had taken his badge back and pinned it onto his robes.

This was where the reactions differed, however. The other three seventh year male prefects were in a similar state of shock as Lily, thinking that he had got the job of being Head Boy over them, when they had been responsible prefects for the past two years whilst he had just been goofing off and messing around. The sixth year prefects were mostly supportive of him, with some laughs and pats on the backs before they made their way over to their own seats. Especially from Kevin, the Gryffindor beater and sixth year male prefect, because they were 'buddies', as they liked to say, anyway. Kevin had always joked that he had one up over his captain, because while James could give them practices whenever he wanted, Kevin could land him with a detention if he really wanted too. Now though, James had the same power, so that threat was rather null and void now.

The fifth year prefects were quite confused, because this was the first time that most of them probably cared about the world of the prefect. There were maybe one or two who, like Lily, had known that they had wanted to be prefects for a while, and had known what they needed to do to be chosen for prefect, but the chances were that for at least six of the eight sitting there, this news had come pretty much out of the blue.

So, they probably didn't always realise that James hadn't been prefect for the past couple of years; that he had spent the past two years making as much trouble as possible rather than promoting the school rules as the prefects should. They would know him as a marauder which he was first and foremost, even now. So, whilst they were confused that he was the head of the school really, in terms of the students, they didn't think that much of it, because for all they knew, James Potter had been a prefect all along and they just hadn't realised it.

The seventh year girls however (apart from Lily, of course) had the best reactions, though. The Slytherin just rolled her eyes, muttered something about family money and Dumbledore being pointless before walking off to sit with the rest of her house mates. She didn't care about being a prefect, in fact she didn't care about much. She was happy to go along with her family and what was expected of her. She was alright, because although she could be rather bitchy, she didn't care about what she was saying, so didn't go out of her way to persecute the muggleborns of her school.

The Hufflepuff looked at James, and looked as though she wanted to run straight out of the carriage again. If she hadn't been one of the last prefects to get there, she might have, she was so uncertain about everything involving James Potter. According to her, they had had a one week thing, where he romanced her and promised her everything before ripping her heart out and tear it into a million pieces. Of course, according to James, it had been a one date thing one Hogsmeade weekend, when he had taken her out, but she had been so clingy he had to dump her straight after. Normally, in situations like these, the school believed the stories of the girls, and thought of them as the victims of the marauders, but in this case no-one knew which story was true. Whilst what was claimed of him was something James Potter would do, stories like this followed the Hufflepuff around, so the jury was still out on exactly who the victim was that time. After that 'whirlwind romance', though, the Hufflepuff had avoided James completely, which proved both of their guilt according to different people, but this was the first time she had been in such close proximity to him since that week. Hence the want, or need, to escape.

Unfortunately for her, she had come to the carriage with the Ravenclaw prefect who, upon seeing James and his Head Boy badge, walked straight up to him and slapped him in the face for no obvious reason. Doing this, though, had forced the Hufflepuff to take a seat, while everyone else was looking at James to see why he had just been full on bitch slapped by the Ravenclaw.

"Pass that on to Black, would you? Say it's from the angry little dwarf; he'll know what I'm talking about." With that she spun around and sat herself in the seat next to the Ravenclaw fifth year prefects, and proceeded to pretend that there was no-one in the seat almost directly opposite her.

She had been the last prefect to get to the prefects meeting, but still there had been no reaction from Lily. Kath, who had taken it upon herself to sit next to her after congratulating James on his ascension to Head Boy, poked her repeatedly, but Lily was still just sat there with a rather blank look on her face. That led to Tom, the Ravenclaw on the other side of her, to wave his hand in front of her face, but that still yielded no results. Of course, after Tom, all the prefects took it to mean that it was a free for all to get Lily's attention back to the prefect meeting, rather than the fact that James was Head Boy for some unknown reason.

It meant that Jen the Hufflepuff punched her lightly in the arm a couple of times, Jake the Hufflepuff started braiding her hair, for no other reason than he wanted to, it seemed like. The Slytherins just sat there, not commenting on the fact that she was letting down the school and giving it a bad reputation because she was a mudblood, which they could have if they had wanted to, but not doing anything to help either. Why they weren't making any blood related comments, the other prefects weren't sure, but they weren't going to say anything about it- it was quite nice pretending they weren't there actually.

It was Remus who managed to break Lily out of her stupor, eventually, by just getting up and sitting on her, as Sirius often had when they had met up in the summer holidays. While Lily allowed Sirius to drape himself over her in any ways he wanted, she wouldn't let anyone else do it, often shoving them to the floor in an attempt to get them off her. Of course, this is what Lily did when she felt a weight in her lap, before she looked to see who it was, and leant down to give Remus a hand up. She was friends with him, and friends didn't push friends to the floor unless it was as a last resort.

"Sorry Remus, it isn't too hard that floor, is it?" She was immediately back to nice little Lily, a common nickname for her amongst some of her fans in the school.

"Nah, nothing like your hardwood at home, anyway, I'm almost used to it now" He smiled as he stood up, brushed off the little bit of dirt that had made its way onto his robes for the couple of seconds that he was on the floor, and walked back to his seat next to James, who just looked confused at everything that had been happening since Kath had slapped Lily. Prefect meetings were strange places.

Lily, on the other hand, looked around and realised that all the other prefects must have got to the meeting in the time that she had been attempting to find a reason as to why Dumbledore had made James Potter Head Boy. She hadn't come up with one yet, but she was sure that it would all come clear in the meeting. Which really should be started, now.

"So, how long were you all waiting for me, then?" As long as it was less than ten minutes, she could probably get away with it, and just gloss over it in the weeks to come. Hopefully.

"Well, I slapped you about seven minutes ago now, and no-one was able to make you react until you threw Remus off your lap." That was Kath, after a couple of awkward moments, where no-one else seemed to want to admit what they had been doing to bring Lily back to the land of prefects. Kath, on the other hand, didn't seem to care, because Lily had always thought of her as a straight up bitch, who always said what she was thinking, and didn't judge her anymore for doing so. It was the way things went in the Gryffindor girls' dormitories, and had been going for the past couple of years.

Lily, when she realised that this meant that they had been trying to start the meeting for at least seven minutes while she had just been sitting there completely zoned out, blushed a deep crimson, in a way that her face almost matched her hair colour. Not quite, but almost.

"Alright, well then, shall we start before we have to do that all over again?" There was no point hiding the fact that she was embarrassed beyond anything else, because her lovely complexion always gave it away as soon as the thought was just introduced. The only thing she could do was just accept it and move on. And listen to the stories when they got to Hogwarts.

Lily stood up then, and moved to the unofficial front of the carriage, where the Heads had always gone to conduct the first prefect meeting of the year. Of course, her partner didn't follow her, but she was trying to forget that he wasn't her partner, in an attempt to get through the meeting without shouting herself hoarse. There would be enough time for that when they got back to Hogwarts and she had to share a room with him and his idiotic ways. And his friends, who were idiots, just not as bad as James Potter.

"Alright then, I'll start at the beginning. Well done to our new prefects for receiving the badge. I hope that you will wear it well, and with pride. You have been handpicked to act as a first response in our school. While you have the power to take off points and give out detentions, you are also there to provide support for your school mates, and will act as a friendly face that anyone can talk to if they have a problem. Don't think that your only job is punishing people or you may be stripped of the privileges all together." She looked around at the gathered prefects then, and they were all looking at her, seemingly paying attention. Even Potter, but she just skipped over him. "Also, one of the most famous privileges, I suppose, of being prefect, is the prefects bathroom, which is located on the fifth floor, near the statue of Boris the Bewildered. If you show him your prefect badge, he will give you directions to the door your first time. The current password is Alpine, but it will be changed on a bi-monthly basis. I'll tell you each time at the preceding prefects meeting, as well as exactly when the password will change. I trust that you won't spread the password around amongst your friends, but if you do then it won't be such a nice place, will it?" Lily looked up again at that, and saw that a couple of the new prefects had jotted down the password, so that they didn't forget it. James, though, was sitting in his seat still, looking confused again. Lily could only guess it was because he didn't know what the password would be, but then, neither had she before she had walked into the room. She had just got there first, and picked up the sheet of paper with lists of passwords before she waited for everyone else to get there, and before James had got there either. "So, do we have any questions yet?"

No-one seemed to want to ask anything, but one of the fifth year prefects, the Hufflepuff she thought but she wasn't sure, raised his hand and asked "Is the prefect bathroom really that cool, though?"

The question was met by laughter in the carriage from the upper year prefects- they already knew exactly how nice that bathroom was in comparison to all the others in the school, and they knew that they would not want to lose that privilege over all the others they get as prefects. It wasn't malicious laughter, though, because before becoming prefects themselves they had thought the same thing. Someone had just been brave enough to ask this time.

Lily smiled as the laughter died down again. She didn't care that they had laughed- if she hadn't been standing at the front she would have too. "Can you guess the answer? We need that bathroom, I'm sure everyone agrees with me on that point." There were nodding heads around the carriage as the other prefects were going along with what Lily was saying, and not just because she was their Head Girl. "Alright then, so, as I hope you will have guessed by now, I am Head Girl this year, and our Head Boy is James Potter, over there, so if you have any problems yourselves, you can come to either of us whenever you want. As Heads, we will be organising the rounds, as well as doing the first rounds on the train. We won't have anyone patrolling for the majority of the train ride, but that means if there is any trouble, it is your responsibility to sort it out. If you really can't manage that, I'm in one of the middle carriages, and I think we all know where the marauders hang out, don't we?" That was met by some chuckles as well, although some may have been because the meeting was obviously drawing to a close, and they all wanted to get back to their friends, so the more agreeable they were, the faster they could gossip again. "Okay, so, tonight and tomorrow night the teachers, Potter and I will be patrolling, and we will have a meeting tomorrow at seven to discuss when you will all be doing rounds, but if you don't mind saying when you can't patrol, or if you don't know dates then what clubs may prevent you from patrolling, so we can have a provisional timetable before then. If that's alright?"

Everyone had scrambled for a piece of parchment and a pen, a couple of people sharing they were so eager to get it written down. Lily knew that it wasn't because they hated being there, because in fifth and sixth year she had acted exactly the same. Meeting up in the summer and going back to Hogwarts with your friends were two completely different things.

It only took about a minute before a pile of parchment with names, dates and clubs had accumulated at her feet, with all the prefects watching her to see if what they had done was good enough. The last year, the Head Boy had wanted to make the timetable on the train, annoying the whole prefect team, and they never forgot. The whole year, they made being Head Boy being the worst thing possible, and even the Head Girl joined in occasionally. Lily knew that wasn't a thing to do if she wanted to stay a well like member of Hogwarts.

"Alright then, well, we'll be patrolling until half twelve, so if you need us before then we'll be somewhere on the train. After then, you know where to find us. Any problems, try to sort it yourself, but if you can't, don't hesitate to find us, or take points and assign detentions. Just be sensible, you can take away too many points." When she stopped talking, the scramble to the door was mad, as everyone was heading back to their friends, most likely to spread the word that James Potter was Head Boy, and Lily Evans had been in his company for twenty minutes without shouting at him. That was certainly big news and very juicy gossip. Especially the reasons for why Lily hadn't yelled herself hoarse at James.

James had stayed behind with Remus as the other prefects had all escaped from the prefect carriage, although whether that was because he had realised that he was doing the rounds of the train with Lily, and therefore needed to stay behind to discuss it with Lily, or whether it was because Remus had forced him to, Lily wasn't sure. But he was still there, so it was going alright for now. Remus himself had left the carriage to head back to the rest of the marauders, probably to let them know how little James had managed to do.

"So, which end do you want to do? The back so you will end up with the rest of you?" The less Lily had to speak to James, the less likely she would end up screaming at him, and the easier everything would be. She was sure, sooner or later, he would realise that he was Head Boy, and therefore had an equal say in everything, but while he was still in this silent stupor, Lily was definitely going to take advantage of it.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Does it have our password on there?" He nodded towards the sheet of paper that was still in Lily's hand, written in Dumbledore's elegant script.

Lily knew that she shouldn't be getting annoyed, that this was how she wanted him to be, but she was getting more and more pissed off the less he was saying and the less proactive as he was being. Any longer, and she would probably just yell at him for no reason whatsoever, which would really get the gossip wheels going at full speed again. If she could only keep the inevitable argument under wraps until they were in their new living area, where hopefully it would be rather private and she could get it all off her chest. So, she just thrust the piece of paper into his hand and walking out of the carriage. She didn't storm out, but it wasn't far off.

"Did I do something wrong?" James looked up from the sheet of passwords to an empty carriage, and just wondered how he had managed to let Lily run the meeting, and just sat there in silence. Of course, the carriage was empty so no-one replied, but he really wanted someone to explain what was going on.

The train ride went smoothly after that, with the two Heads returning to their friends after the hour of patrol was up, and they didn't get called up for any other problems for the rest of the train journey, which meant they had a nice time talking to their friends. As well as planning a series of welcome back pranks, for the marauders. Lily managed to get Jo and Marlene off his back by telling them about the surprise Head Boy. Which worked for her. Elena was still reading by the window, but even she stopped for a couple of minutes when Lily had spread the news, although she didn't say anything and went straight back to reading afterwards.

As usual, ten minutes before the train pulled in, the girls pulled their Hogwarts robes on, keeping as much of their own clothes on as possible, because this was only for the evening meal and that sort of thing could be got away with. Lily, though, felt that she should wear her full uniform since she had the tea meeting with Dumbledore after the feast, and she was Head Girl at the end of the day. She doubted James would do the same thing, but at least she could be in proper uniform, setting a good example.

The boys hadn't put their uniform on until the train started to slow down and pull into Hogsmeade station, because they had been busy discussing and planning. The blinds had been drawn, and no-one had been allowed in for the past three hours, since the trolley witch had come by, supplying them with their much needed sweets. So, when the trolley did slow down, they leapt into action, with James at least pulling a school jumper over his clothes in an attempt at school uniform.

Lily had been one of the first off the train as well, to help Hagrid in guiding the first years to the boats rather than the coaches, so that they would have the proper experience in going to Hogwarts for the first time. James, on the other hand, was one of the last off the train, getting into one of the last coaches with the rest of the marauders. It meant they would be able to make a better entrance this way, and the bigger the entrance, the less everyone will notice the setting up of the pranks. Simple psychology, as the muggles called it.

While they were walking towards the castle, after their coach ride with the invisible animals, Peter's owl flew onto his shoulder, dropping a letter onto the ground in front of him before flying off again. Fortunately for him, only Remus saw, with James and Peter in front of them, busy discussing the prank that was on its way. Remus let it go that Peter had received the letter, but Peter knew that he would be forced to tell all later. As long as it wasn't spread to Sirius or James, not just yet.

By the time they all made it to the entrance hall, they were the last students to get there, obviously excepting the first years, so they gave themselves a brilliant double door entrance, wands out pointing towards the walls. The rest of it could be set up while the first years were getting sorted, but those charms had to be given at least ten minutes to settle, if not more.

Fortunately for Pete, this prank was rather charm heavy, so his main input was in the design stage, so he could focus on the letter from Deb, and inconspicuously writing a reply. Hiding it from everyone, hopefully.

_Dear Deb,_

_Don't worry about the length, it was nice just to hear from you again. And this letter got here really quickly, my mom must have discovered first class post for the first time, which is a nice surprise. I doubt the others will be this quick, but it doesn't matter, does it? _

_It was nice to hear you again, because the rest of my friends can be really stupid sometimes- your sanity is a welcome break from the insanity I live with now. _

_Writing this, it feels like we've been doing this for ages, but this is only my second letter that I've written. Mental, isn't it? But that's life, wouldn't you say? _

_I won't be able to get away for a couple of weeks- the teachers say we need to get 'acclimatised' again, or something like that. If the school wasn't in Scotland, we wouldn't need to acclimatise like this, would we? But, that's this school for you. _

_I haven't seen my girlfriend yet, but I promise you that as soon as I do, I will talk to her and explain everything, exactly how you said I should. To the letter practically, because I have no idea how I would do it otherwise. _

_I'm afraid this letters going to have to be a short one too, because I'm supposed to be watching the first years being inducted into the school, or listening to the Head teacher's speech or whatever is happening now. All I know is that the food hasn't been put out yet, so it is something boring, that's for sure. _

_Hang on, James is standing up, so Dumbledore must be talking about the Head students this year, which means the food will come out soon, and I'll have to interact with everyone for a while. After that, I plan on sending this, so that a reply will come faster. That's my opinion, at least. _

_So, I'll sign off now so I don't get this covered in grease. You may enjoy receiving letters (I don't know why I sound so sceptical, because I do too), but I doubt you would appreciate a letter covered in gravy or grease._

_Pete_

**A/N: There will be a Lily explosion, don't worry- Lily and James are nothing like friends. She tolerated him for her fathers sake when he was at her house, but now it is just the two of them and he is getting on her nerves again even now. Living together sounds like fun for the two of them, doesn't it? Anyway, that will be here next time. Which should be soon.**

**I'm saying soon because I only got back yesterday, but I spent all of yesterday sleeping because apparently getting nine hours of sleep across two consecutive nights, fitting in CERN and Geneva between is not a good idea and makes you tired. Who would have known?**

**So, I am still off school, and will be for a while, so I should get at least another chapter out before I'm back at school, although I hope it is two. **

**I hope you all liked this, so enjoy it ;)**

**See you, well, soon enough hopefully. Of course, not literally, because I'm staying here with the internet, I'm not going anywhere, but my words will see you soon enough ;)**


	15. Chapter 15

_Disclaimer: As always, unfortunately, I do not own Harry Potter or anything you recognise..__._

**_I'm sorry it's so late!_**

Chapter 14

The number of new students at Hogwarts were already starting to go down. Not noticeably, not just yet, but there were certainly fewer first years than there were seventh years. There were 6 girls and 8 boys in Gryffindor seventh year, and only 4 girls and 6 boys had been sorted into Gryffindor that year. It wasn't so bad, but Lily thought that maybe people weren't so sure that Hogwarts was the place for young wizards anymore. The muggleborns were still coming, but the half bloods and some of the purebloods were probably going to other places like Beauxbatons, or Durmstrang, where there wasn't the threat of Wizarding War on the horizon.

Lily didn't want to be anywhere other than Hogwarts- Dumbledore always knew what he was talking about and he would certainly look out for them if they needed it. The other head teachers didn't seem to be as passionate as Dumbledore was about good and evil; dark and light. Not that he was overly, well, forcing his ideals down your throat, but he would always do what was right, for the students and the teachers. He was one of the good guys.

Hogwarts was still the same though- same sorting hat behaviour, same McGonagall reading out the list of first years, same speech by Dumbledore, and same number of new teachers this year- one. The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. This year, it was a young guy who looked to only be a couple of years older than they were. Maybe 25 at a push, but only just at a push. He was tall, sandy blonde hair, and he was one of those people who could hold the attention of a room without having to do anything. DADA classes were certainly going to be fun from now on.

He had only been introduced as Professor Marks, a rather short introduction really, but Lily was taking DADA as one of her NEWTs, so she would meet him soon enough, and learn exactly who he was. There seemed to be a story there, somewhere. Especially as to why he wasn't an Auror, because that would seem to be the most obvious choice. If he was really that good at Defence.

That didn't matter now though- the Welcoming Feast had appeared on the tables thanks to the House Elves, so the only thing that mattered now was eating. And, after that she had the meeting with Dumbledore and the idiot, which then led to finding her dormitory, and spending the whole night with the Class A idiot himself. Hopefully without yelling at him too much.

But, that was all still in the future at the moment, though. Food was now, and that was what mattered right now. It was everything tonight- Chicken, Beef, Pork and Duck, with all the trimmings that there could be. Roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, and all kinds of stuffing. There were some people, like the marauders, who would eat everything since it was on offer, but Lily just enjoyed having the choice and the different sorts of food. Of course, other days there would be more choice in terms of types of food that was on offer, but a proper Sunday Roast was a special sort of meal to Lily.

"So, Lily, this special dormitory of yours. Is it good for sleepovers, do you think?" Jo had filled her plate, but the Welcoming Feast wasn't just for food, but for catching up too. Yes, they had had the whole train ride, but the feast was different to the train in the same way that the train was different to meeting up during the summer holidays.

"I think I'll need it, because the marauders are going to be there 24/7 no doubt, anyway."

"Oh yes, you know, I'd almost forgotten. You and the marauders. Or, more specifically, you and one Sirius Black. Care to explain that to us?" Marlene had cocked her head, and was twirling one strand of her blonde hair around her fingers. Normally she would wear it in a high ponytail, but today it was down around her shoulders, and perfect for her to fiddle with whilst interrogating Lily.

"Seriously, guys? Still on this one?" Lily rolled her eyes, because they had asked about this often enough. Well, at least five times by this time, and they had only known about this at half past ten that morning.

"Yes, we are 'still on this one', as you so nicely put it, because you still haven't actually told us anything. You have just sat there prettily, smiling at everything, and only said that you felt pity for him, and he and your dad made friends. But, really, from that to you sitting in his lap? Yeah, I think that there is something missing here, don't you, Jo?" Marlene had turned from just fiddling with her hair to putting little plaits in it. In between eating, that was. She did eat.

"Yes, I think I agree with you there Mar, because she always interrogates with us every time we so much as talk with some boy, but she is allowed to sit in the lap of the infamous Sirius Black and not expect us to say anything? Double standards there. I say."

"Yes, I mean, I went out on one measly date last year and she wouldn't let me copy her notes until she had heard literally the whole story. There are certainly double standards going on here." Marlene gestured with her fork, but this time there were no peas on it, so there were no flying vegetables. This time because almost every other they had a discussion like this with the evening meal, Marlene had chosen to eat peas, and then chosen to throw them all around the Great Hall.

"Exactly, that's what I was thinking. So, Lily, spill." Jo turned to look at Lily then, and turned her grey eyes onto Lily. Grey eyes weren't often that threatening, but Jo had perfected the art of making them the most threatening thing ever. Especially teamed with her ever changing hair. Not because she was a metamorphmagus or anything, but because she was just very indecisive about what she wanted her appearance to be. Her eye colour- she loved it. Her skin colour, well, her complexion was certainly gorgeous, especially with the added bonus of magic to keep an eye on spots and the like. But hair colour? That was a different story. She would often charm her hair to house colours for the Quidditch matches, but that was the only time you could predict what her hair colour would be.

Today, it was a yellow blonde, warmer than Marlene's, with pale pink stripes running through it, picked pout in the way that she had plaited her hair over her shoulder. She always denied it, but her looks were very important to her, especially when there were things that she could do about them. She still made fun of the girls who walked round in skirts that should be called belts, and tops that were only really boob tubes they showed so much skin and were so tight. That was the only thing that those girls did that she didn't- the amount of time put into her hair and makeup was on a par with the amount of times those sorts of girls. Not that she would admit it if you ever called her up on it.

"But there is one difference there- Sirius and I are just friends whereas I found you and that one date guy at second base in a broom closet the night of the Hogsmeade trip. As a good friend, I needed to know more to make sure he wasn't just going to dump you heartbroken sometime in the future."

"Just friends? I don't think any girl has ever managed to be 'just friends' with Sirius Black for more than two weeks."

"Yeah, that was Jess, wasn't it? And what happened to her? I'm not sure I can remember." Jo put one of her perfectly manicured fingers to her chin, as if she really didn't know who she was talking about. When everyone knew that Jess had thought that she was in a relationship with Sirius, and had ended off going off the rails, with alcohol and wizarding drugs that were so much wackier than muggle drugs, leading to her getting suspended for her whole fifth year. She was only going into sixth year now, and according to her Hufflepuff house Mates, she didn't speak to anyone anymore.

"Hmm, well, she's here at school, but I'm not sure that she is in the right year group, I mean, isn't she our age?"

"Yeah, I swear she is one of the oldest students in the school."

"Mid-October birthday, I think. She's about a month older than I am, so that would be right. I'm not sure about the actual date, but that sounds about right to me."

"Yeah, that's her, I'm sure of it." Jo smirked. They were having their conversation between the two of them, but really they were speaking to Lily. She didn't handle being talked at very well, something that Marlene learnt in first year when Lily would just run off if something got too awkward for her. Hence developing this method of telling her what to do.

Both Marlene and Jo looked at Lily then, to see what her reaction was. This way of telling Lily what to do only really worked when they could see the reaction, because otherwise who knew what she was thinking, or whether she was even listening. Of course, Lily was glaring at them, because she was Lily after all.

"But Jess had a crush on him all along. I'm just saying that maybe he isn't the idiot I thought he was, and maybe he can make rather funny jokes sometimes. I don't fancy him or anything like that, I'm not that insane just yet."

Professor McGonagall walked up to them, as she walked up to them most dinner times. Apparently there was a Hogwarts rule that, while you could sit at whichever House table you wanted for breakfast and lunch, dinner must be spent at your own table. A rule that Jo, Marlene and Lily all thought was stupid, because Jo had to sleep in a different dormitory (well, technically), why would they split them up at one meal time as well? Wasn't Dumbledore all for house unity?

"Girls, I know you are all friends, and we support the three of you being friends, but could you please sit at your proper table Jo? At least for the opening feast?" McGonagall sounded rather resigned, but then that probably had something to do with Professor Chiles sitting at the Head Table, grinning rather smugly. Chiles was the Hufflepuff, and Jo's, Head of house, so really it was his responsibility to make sure she sat at her table. But this was only McGonagall's second year as a Head of House, and she was a rather young Head of House anyway. So Chiles enjoyed blaming McGonagall when the three friends sat together, often at the Gryffindor table.

Not that there was much left of the opening feast. The dessert was just coming out, and already people looked to be planning on returning to their dormitories soon. A privilege that Lily didn't have- she would have to talk to the idiot Potter, see Dumbledore and then spend the night in her new dormitory that she would be sharing with the idiot himself. Happy times.

McGonagall wasn't moving, though. She was just standing there, looking at Jo expectantly. And, admittedly, they all knew that she should have sat with her housemates, and welcomed her new housemates from the house table. It wasn't as if she didn't like any of her housemates, or that she didn't like being a Hufflepuff. She loved the Hufflepuff house, and all that it stood for. She felt like she belonged with the rest of the 'Puffs, and they were great people to spend her evenings with. It was just that Lily and Marlene were better friends, who understood what she was thinking more. Simple as that.

But, she knew that she should move, and she picked up all of her things, and moved across the row to the Hufflepuff table. Well, over the Ravenclaw table too, but that was just her making a point. The same point that she made every time she was forced to move away from her friends, and the Ravenclaws that sat in the path moved their plates as they always did. Of course, normally there were books too, but the whole house seemed to have an agreement that there were no books at the opening feast.

McGonagall just rolled her eyes that Jo had chosen to take her usual path to her house table, but walked back to the head table, as she had done what she had had to do. Of course, Chiles was shaking her head, but McGonagall respected the defiance that Jo always chose to show, every time she walked across the Ravenclaw table to where she should be sitting. It was the sort of defiance that showed the younger years that, while they may not have been sorted into the house of the brave, they may still be brave people. Just because they were sorted into one house didn't mean that they didn't have traits of other houses in them.

Marlene and Lily shrugged their shoulders at each other, and returned to their plates. The cake that the House elves made for the opening feast was always special, and they wouldn't miss it for the world. And, Jo had settled back with her Hufflepuff friends, probably trying to catch up with all the gossip that they were ever so talented at collecting.

At that point, with everyone tucking in to the best part of the meal- the dessert, Lily just realised exactly how peaceful it was. The talk between friends had grown even quieter, as most people were enjoying the sweet foods that were on offer from the House elves. But then, Lily realised what made it so peaceful- the marauders. They hadn't pulled their welcome back prank yet, which was never a good sign. It wasn't that it had malfunctioned- their spells never went wrong, or if they did they had an outstanding back up plan that was just as good. The fact that nothing had happened just yet meant that their prank wasn't planned to happen until the end of the feast. And that meant it would be in the dessert, because that was the only thing they could be certain to affect everyone. Great, just when she was enjoying her slice of cake.

Further down the table, where the marauders were sitting, a very quiet conversation was going on, mostly through looks and gestures rather than actual words. While they tried to surround themselves by their biggest fans when they were setting off a prank like this, they still didn't want word getting out of what exactly was going on, and which foods the different potions were in. Because everything had some prank in it, and it would be quite funny to see how they reacted depending on what people ate.

A first year was the first to be affected- sprouting wings from the chocolate truffles that they had just eaten. If it hadn't been a first year, they would have just laughed out loud and continued eating, but the first year stopped, and looked rather shocked. Probably a muggleborn, because they didn't seem to know how to react to the magic.

As the wings sprouted though, everyone looked round to the marauders, who were high fiving each other, looking rather pleased. Of course, that was because the truffles were the ones that had been least certain- the mixture hadn't wanted to incorporate the potion, so it was half potion half spell. But, it had worked out well at least.

What happened then was almost predictable, and a beautiful mess of chaos to the four marauders. Thinking that only the truffles had been treated, everyone avoided those like the plague, with the other unfortunate ones who had already tried them sprouting wings too. Next was the cheesecake, something that a lot of the girls had favoured, Jo included. Knowing that this was one of Jo's favourites, it had been a colour changing charm added to the cheesecake, specifically aimed at the hair. The hair that tuned into strips of hair in neon colours. Not their biggest prank, but it certainly made a statement. Especially when Jo stood up, and yelled across the tables "Really? I had just changed it this morning!"

From then, people avoided both the cheesecake and truffles, trying to stay one step ahead of the boys. And that's when all of the others kicked in, and turned the hall into a riot of colour and madness. The ice cream had a stickiness potion in it, which wasn't so bad, but feathers and glitter had been charmed to the ceiling, and started raining down on those ice cream eaters. The cake that Lily and Marlene were eating was a voice altering, and now they could only roar like a lion. Not so bad, but the sneezing powder on the table near the cake eaters meant that they kept sneezing and roaring and sounding completely stupid. Then there was the fruit bowl, and each of the fruits had a different animal head drawn into them, so whoever ate fruit had their head turn into that animal. Of course, when people had had more than one fruit, the combination of heads looked rather funny.

This prank wasn't just for the students either- on the head table the teachers were sporting all kinds of combinations of things, with Dumbledore looking most resplendent- big tawny wings unfurled, and hair and beard the most amazing colours. All the other teachers were looking rather annoyed with their new appearances, but knew better than to complain to the marauders and demand that it is removed. Professor Daeno had done that once, and everyone thought that she had left because the marauders had forced her out of the school with all the pranks that they played on her. She had thought that they would be kinder to her, seeing as she had been their head of house, but she had been very wrong indeed.

When everyone realised that all the food had some sort of prank in it, an all-out food war erupted. Food was floating into people's mouths, to see what would happen then, and some people were doing it the muggle way, and just throwing food everywhere.

Of course, in the middle of all this, sitting in their position on the Gryffindor house table, arms crossed, and as relaxed as could be, were the marauders. They had each agreed to only eat the cheesecake, and had dimmed the colours slightly so that they didn't look too ridiculous, as well as setting up a shield charm so that they weren't pelted by flying food that was all over the rest of the Great Hall.

"Well, I must say fellow marauders, I think that this one went off rather well indeed, didn't it?"

"Yes Padfoot, and this food fight, whilst not being planned, only adds to it, don't you think?"

"I feel that you are right there Moony, it is only adding to our spiffing prank, wouldn't you say?"

"I can only agree with you Wormtail, as-"

Of course from further down the table, with her roaring voice and wings that had sprouted after Marlene had shoved a truffle in her mouth, Lily had been watching the marauders, and getting more and more annoyed at them. While she had been expecting a prank, of course, it was what they did, this was a bit too much. And for them to be sitting there calmly, with food flying all around them; it just didn't seem fair to her. Of course, she had tried throwing food, but when it splattered not a foot away from them, Lily saw the shimmer of a simple shield charm, much like the one she had set up after her wings had sprouted.

So, she had stormed off down the table, looking rather sinister with her wings out, with as many fruits as she could carry in her hands. Hopefully, if they all mixed together properly, they would shut the idiot up. As she walked between the tables, a couple of the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws stopped throwing food just to watch what was going on. The lack of shouting at the prefect meeting had shocked the whole school, but by the looks of it the old Lily Evans was back with a vengeance, and James wouldn't know what had hit him.

Mid-sentence, when his mouth was wide open, Lily had jammed all the fruit that she had in his mouth, before hexing his mouth shut. She could only glare at him as she didn't want to roar, but when he just smiled at her that was all she could do, she was so annoyed. Of course, James was probably feeling rather smug because she couldn't hex him in any other way as she would just roar, and obviously the fruit was not affecting him at all. He was forgetting there that she was an incredibly talented witch, and had already taught herself how to cast some spells silently. She was prepared like that. So, when James turned back around, he missed the lights coming towards him, although the rest of the marauders saw them perfectly fine.

Lily turned around and walked off then, as James' hair grew exponentially, along with his teeth. Added to this, his feet stuck themselves to the floor under that table, and a flock of birds appeared in the air around him, with their only target being his face. To top it off, when James tried to shout at her, everything came out in song. Just revenge, Lily thought.

Everyone had stopped the food fight after Lily had roared, and had watched the interaction between the two of them with a lot of interest. They had all missed the Potter-Evans fights during the summer holidays, and there hadn't been one on the train. The students had started to worry that maybe they weren't sworn enemies any more. This only meant that when James burst out into song, the whole hall laughed at him, forgetting the many pranks that had already been played on them.

Dumbledore stood up then, and spread his wings in a way to get the attention of everyone in the hall.

"Well, that was certainly an amusing way to welcome us all back, Marauders, although I believe that maybe you could have given us at least one safe food?"

"But Sir, we were going to but the House elves didn't serve the sweets today." Sirius called up. Normally it was James that answered Dumbledore, but no-one wanted to suffer through his singing again, James himself included.

"Aah, yes, the sweets, how could I forget. In that case, I believe regular punishment would be fair for the four of you? As well as cleaning up the hall before breakfast tomorrow. We don't want to give our new caretaker, Mr Filch, the wrong impression now, would we?"

"Sounds fine from here Sir. From tomorrow, I presume?"

"Yes, quite right there Mr Black. Now, one last question for you, will I be able to fly with these rather beautiful wings I seem to have acquired?"

"No, Sir. Although, we can try to come up with a way for you, if you would like?"

"That's ad, I would have loved to fly around the school under my own power. Maybe if you test it on yourselves first, Mr Black, as I am sure you are much more used to flying and falling than I am. Well, with that I must say that we have had enough excitement for one day. If the prefects would like to lead the first years to your dormitories, and any meetings for tonight should be postponed I say, seeing as communicating is a difficulty for some of us now, isn't it? Well, good night all." With that, Dumbledore clapped his hands, and everyone started getting up and heading out.

Lily was glad that she wouldn't have to deal with James again properly tonight, she wasn't sure that she wouldn't punch him. Not at the moment. Instead, she smiled at Marlene, and headed off towards the astronomy tower and her new room, where hopefully she would be able to hide in her new room before the idiot got there. Hopefully.

**A/N: I know, I know, I promised that there would be two last week and there wasn't one! I meant to, I really did, but then school work got in the way,a dn I just kept forgetting, or I didn't know what to say. **

**But, I ma back now, and I promise that that won't happen again, or at least, i really, really hope it won't. Anyway, now I can fake work on my laptop and write this instead, rather than just not going on my laptop at all ;)**

**So, school will start properly next chapter, and then we might get a day lasting one chapter, or maybe even less! Rather than these three chapters per day...**

**I hope you all enjoy it! ;)**


	16. Chapter 16

_Disclaimer: As always, unfortunately, I do not own Harry Potter or anything you recognise..__._

Chapter 15

The seventh year Gryffindor boys' dormitory was rather quieter than it had been for the past couple of years. Apparently, without James, no-one knew what to do. Sirius was lounging on his bed, fiddling with the curtain hangings. He was changing the colours between the red that they were, and a navy blue and a bright gold. It had been slightly interesting to start with, but it was getting boring now. Remus had his books out on his bed, but he wasn't really reading them.

Jack wasn't there, but that was to be expected. He had never appreciated the marauders, and since halfway through first year he would spend most of his times with the Ravenclaws of their year. They were cool guys, but they were nothing like the marauders. He would probably rock up around midnight, and launch himself into his bed to sleep through until morning. This was a development that had happened in the middle of fifth year. Until then, he had at least spent the evenings with his fellow Gryffindors, but then they had got more secretive, and the Ravenclaws had apparently got more interesting, and that was just the way of the world.

Peter, well, he wasn't really that good at entertaining himself. It's probably why most of the teachers just thought that he was a little creep that followed the other marauders without adding anything to them. It was just that interacting with people that he didn't know inside out wasn't his sort of thing, but then entertaining himself wasn't something he enjoyed the most. So, he often followed the other marauders, because that was easier and he wouldn't be at the centre of attention, even if he was a part of the most popular group in Hogwarts.

He didn't want to read anything- that wasn't going to be until school had actually started again, and that wasn't until the morning. So, that meant that he would not be reading any of his textbooks just yet. And, obviously changing colour charms couldn't hold anyone's attention for long, so he wouldn't even try to do that. What else could he do, though? He couldn't write to Deb again, because that would just ben needy and he didn't want to be thought of as needy- they were only friends, after all. He had already sent off his next letter, so he couldn't even go off to the Owlery to send the letter.

So, Peter just sat there thinking about everything and life in general. There wasn't much more he could do other than that. Obviously, if James had decided to come to their old dormitory, rather than swanning off with Lily who was back to hating him again, there would have been a lot more fun in the dormitory. Fireworks, sweets and stuff just to make their evening more interesting, and to celebrate their last free night before the stress of the NEWTs set in. Well, set in for Remus, at least.

James had tried to make conversation, well singing conversation, with Lily, but she had just slammed the door to her bedroom in his face and ignored him. Well, she had actually opened her door just to glare at him and slam the door in his face for the effect that it would have. She had got to their common room first, and had retreated into her bedroom straight away, James thought. It was the only way that it could have happened, because James didn't exactly dawdle on the way to the Head's Common Room. The clear up of the Great Hall had taken only seconds- they knew the counter spells and the counter potions that they had to use, and they got to keep their wands, so it was hardly a hard task for them. Of course, Dumbledore would have known that when he suggested the punishment, but then most people were of the opinion that he secretly liked the pranks the marauders pulled.

So, now James was in the common room, facing a stubbornly shut door and no entertainment whatsoever. What a way to spend his first evening back at the good old Hogwarts.

The next morning dawned beautiful and bright, but only Lily was awake to see the morning in all of its beauty. When she woke up, she just stretched, enjoying the luxury of the King sized four poster bed that she had slept in. Compared to the small single in her bedroom at home, with the mattress that was losing springs at a rate that was far too fast to be comfortable; her new bed was just the best thing ever.

Of course, as amazing as the bed was, she couldn't spend all of her time in it. First day of school today, so she would have to be at breakfast early. Not for any particular reason, but she enjoyed the quiet of the Great Hall when it was practically empty. No people shouting across the tables to their friends, and no marauders to ruin a perfectly good meal. The best way to ease herself back into life at Hogwarts.

As she was tying her Gryffindor tie, for the last first time, Lily thought back to the time, six years ago, when she was doing it for her first time. The pure excitement and joy that had been flowing through her that had just meant that she had been unable to sleep past dawn. She had got up as soon as she thought that it was alright to get up, and had dressed herself in her new uniform that just meant so much to her. Of course, that morning she had also been planning her first letters home- one to her parents and one to her sister. She would only be writing one of those letters this year- she had been writing only one of those letters since Christmas of first year. That had been when she had realised that Petunia meant it when she said she didn't want to have a little sister anymore.

But, those weren't the thoughts that she wanted to be thinking. It was the excitement- she was going to a magic school. It had sounded mad to Lily, and the fact that there books on it and the theory of almost anything to do with magic. The ceiling had amazed her so much, and she wondered if she would ever be able to do magic like that. She still hadn't learnt that particular charm, but she knew many more that she didn't even think could be charms. It was one of the reasons it was one of her favourite subjects- the amazing thoughts that it had kept teaching her, every time she had a charms lesson.

She had been so innocent that first year, and she was so sad that the innocence wasn't there anymore. The threat of this Dark Lord that was supposed to be trying to take of the wizarding world, well, it had sapped all of the innocence out of her, and most of the upper years too. But, well, those weren't the thoughts that she wanted to have either. Happy, happy, happy, first day of the new school year, all good from here on.

The Great Hall was as empty as Lily had expected it to be. Of course, neither Marlene or Jo were there, even though they had an agreement that they would all get to breakfast early, just to savour the end of the summer in consciousness. Lily knew that it was a hard ask, but she thought that they might have at least tried.

It was so empty that the only other person who wasn't half asleep on their house table was one of the new Ravenclaws, already with her head buried in a book and living up to the Ravenclaw stereotype. Good for her.

While it was like that when Lily got down there, it didn't remain like that for long. The Ravenclaw table was filling up fastest, as it always did. First day back, and everyone wanted to be prepared for what the new school year would present them. Especially in terms of new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. They had had a new teacher every year as long as anyone could remember, and each was just as ridiculous as the last.

The new teacher for this year had not been introduced at the Welcoming Feast, but that wasn't that unusual. Often they arrived late, not coming on the Hogwarts Express, and Dumbledore couldn't really argue about this. It was such a hard time, and no-one wanted to teach Defence, that Dumbledore had to give in to most things that the prospective teachers would ask. It was a tough situation for him to be in, but there wasn't much else that he could do.

Lily had gone down to the Great Hall at seven o'clock, an hour and a half before the first lesson, hopefully one which would be a free block for her. The Ravenclaws streamed in, so that by half past seven the table was practically full. The Slytherins seemed to come down in year groups together, from quarter past seven to quarter to eight. The new first years came in with the sixth years, in a way that made the whole house look tough and intimidating.

The Hufflepuffs had come in in dribs and drabs, with Jo turning up at ten to eight, hair a mess and looking as if she had just rolled out of bed and straight into the Great Hall, via some clothes so that she actually looked decent. Of course, Lily flicked her wand straight away to neaten up Jo's appearance, but then she probably knew that Lily would do that- she was predictable like that.

The Gryffindors, well, a couple had come in between seven and eight, but the majority of the table was still empty at eight o' clock. Because, of course, the majority of the Gryffindor house had overslept that morning, and would end up rushing to the Great Hall to grab their timetables and a slice of toast or something to shove into their mouths before running off to their first lesson at about twenty nine minutes past eight. Lily could only hope that their first lesson wasn't Transfiguration, for their sakes.

The timetables which should appear on the house tables round about right now, Lily thought. It was ten past eight, and the deadline for any last minute changes of subjects was eight o' clock, for third and sixth years. Lily didn't know how someone could be so unprepared that they would still need to change their subject on the first day of lessons, but then, some people could definitely be called indecisive, especially the idiot.

Speaking of which, none of the marauders were down, in fact, none of the other seventh year Gryffindors were down. At least Jo had decided to honour the agreement late by falling asleep at the table again, but Marlene was still MIA. Lily just rolled her eyes, though, because no doubt the marauders had come up with some stupid idea that they all thought was genius as a way of making an entrance at breakfast, and the breakfast that most people were still half asleep. That really would be the icing on the cake.

Lily just shook her head at the thought of what they could be planning now, and summoned her timetable from the pile at the end of the table. Accio was one of her favourite charms, because it basically allowed her to be as lazy as she wanted to be. At first glance, it didn't seem like a bad timetable, and she got free blocks in desirable places, but it just made Lily feel bad. It couldn't be this good.

_Timetable- Miss L. Evans_

_Monday- 8:30-9:30 Free block_

_9:30-10:30 Transfiguration, M McGonagall_

_10:30-11:30 Charms, F Flitwick_

_11:30-12:00 Ancient Runes, J Linne_

_ 12:00-13:30 Lunch served in the Great Hall_

_ 13:30-16:00 Potions, H Slughorn_

_Tuesday-8:30-10:30 Defence Against the Dark Arts, Y Wronde_

_ 10:30-11:30 Potions Theory, H Slughorn_

_ 11:30-12:00 Ancient Runes, J Linne _

_ 12:00-13:30 Lunch served in the Great Hall_

_ 13:30-15:00 Free block_

_ 15:00-16:00 Charms, F Flitwick_

_Wednesday- 8:30-10:00 Transfiguration, M McGonagall_

_ 10:00-11:00 Ancient Runes, J Linne_

_ 11:00-12:00- Free block_

_ 12:00-13:30 Lunch served in the Great Hall_

_ 13:30-14:30 Defence Against the Dark Arts, Y Wronde_

_ 14:30-16:00 Charms, F Flitwick_

_Thursday-8:30-9:30 Free block_

_ 9:30-11:00 Potions, H Slughorn_

_ 11:00-12:00 Transfiguration, M McGonagall_

_ 12:00-13:30 Lunch served in the Great Hall_

_ 13:30-14:30 Defence Against the Dark Arts, Y Wronde_

_ 14:30-16:00 Ancient Runes, J Linne_

_Friday-8:30-9:30 Charms, F Flitwick_

_ 9:30-10:30 Transfiguration, M McGonagall_

_ 10:30-12:00 Defence Against the Dark Arts, Y Wronde_

_ 12:00-13:30 Lunch served in the Great Hall_

_ 13:30-14:30 Potions, H Slughorn_

_ 14:30-16:00 Free block_

_Saturday and Sunday- no scheduled lessons although all teachers are available for extra help._

Peter was bored because he was up and ready before even Remus. Sirius was a lost cause because he never naturally woke up before 11 am. But Remus, well, normally he would be awake and mocking James and Sirius with Peter, because there was no point mocking someone on your own. And James, well, he was in his own dorm, so he wasn't there, even though he never usually woke up before the sun had been up a good couple of hours. He wasn't as bad as Sirius, but then he wasn't far off.

He could go down to the Great Hall, and get himself some breakfast as most normal people would do when their friends were still asleep, but then, on his own, he would be expected to talk to people, and that wasn't a hobby of his. At least, not talking to people in person. So, he might as well just wait until Remus woke up, because then they could attempt to wake Sirius up so that there was a chance that they might just make it down to the Great Hall before the only thing they had time to eat was a slice of boring old plain toast.

So, Peter just resigned himself to sitting on his bed in full uniform, flicking through the textbooks that they would be studying this year. Whilst planning exactly what he was going to say to his hopefully soon to be ex-girlfriend, because he was definitely going to see her sometime today, so he would have to talk with her sometime today. Leaving it any longer really would be a really mean thing to do.

He wished that there were phones at Hogwarts then, just so he could talk to Deb, to settle his nerves so that he didn't feel like he was going to throw up as soon as he saw his current girlfriend. Which was how he was feeling at the moment. Confrontations, well, Gryffindor he may be, but he could still not like verbal confrontations.

Actually, he wished there was a way that letters from her could get to him quicker. Because then, well, maybe he would have a reply already, and even a written reply would make him feel better because at least, well, there would be communication. And even the smallest bit of communication would make him feel less nervous and, well, more confident really.

James rolled over on his bed, enjoying the fact that for the first time since going to Hogwarts his bed was as comfortable as the one back at Potter Manor. Really, it was the only thing that he liked about that house now- the pure comfort that came from sleeping in one of the best beds ever. Well, definitely one of, because this bed was just as good really. It supported him really well, but then it was still as light and fluffy as a cloud. And it was so big that he could stretch out as much as it was physically possible and still none of his limbs would be falling off the end.

It was just when he was rolling around, trying to figure out exactly how big the bed was that the water balloon that he really should have seen suspended in the bed exploded, only covering him in a thick, mucus liquid rather than the water that normally came out of water balloons.

Fortunately, though, the explosion had a note accompanying it. Written in the beautiful cursive of their delightful Head Girl, and obviously charmed so that it wouldn't get coated in whatever disgusting liquid was now soaking him head to toe, as well as soaking his beautiful, beautiful bed. It was an incredibly short note, but then she was probably still pissed about yesterday evening, although everything other than the colour changing hair should have worn off by now. If they got the spells right, but then, that was Remus' department, and he actually read books and listened to rules.

The note was simple and to the point-

_Potter-_

_You are Head Boy. Act like it. Get out of bed and maybe grace us all with your oh so delightful presence this morning? _

James could pretend that she actually meant it, that she thought his presence was delightful, but he knew that it was sarcasm. She was sarcastic so much that he could only assume that it was sarcasm, also because that wasn't something that she would normally say. Especially paired with the abrupt 'Potter' at the beginning. She was pissed at him.

And she would only be getting gradually more and more pissed now, because surely she had remembered when she had set the time for. And she would be counting down now for how long it takes him to get to the Great Hall. In case she ever had to do this again. Which was just about great.

James had gone to the Great Hall via Gryffindor Tower, to pick up the rest of the marauders. It was tradition to go down to breakfast together every Monday/ start of term because it made them look more like a force that should never be reckoned with. A pranking force never to be reckoned with, that is.

It's the same way that everyone somehow subconsciously knows to play up to house stereotypes the first couple of days of each term, just to gently ease everyone into the flow of how life was at Hogwarts. It was one of those unspoken things.

Amazingly, though, they made it down to the Great Hall at quarter past eight, although Sirius was grumbling and moaning all the way down. That was probably linked to the impromptu cold water shower that he had that morning, as the way to wake him up. It was the most reliable way to get him out of bed, they had found, but it always meant that there would be a rather grumpy Sirius for at least the next three hours and twenty four minutes. After that, he could forget about it and move on, or, normally, he found something else to interest him and he just moved on like the energetic toddler he channelled.

When they got to the Great Hall, in the middle of their entrance, a girl stood up from the Ravenclaw table, shouting "Peter!" as she ran over to them. Running at full speed, with robes flying out behind her. Honestly, though, she just looked like the bookworm that she really was.

"Wormy, mate, I keep forgetting that you have a girlfriend!" Sirius was practically shouting, but that was probably revenge in his eyes, "Go get her, mate!"

Peter just rolled his eyes, but just stayed by the door as the rest of the Marauders went to the Gryffindor table to grab some breakfast. Looked like he was having toast again this morning. "Yeah, whatever. Just grab my timetable, would you?"

They didn't acknowledge him, but then, he wasn't expecting them to. He supposed that the slight incline of Remus' head could be understood to be Remus nodding his head in agreement, but then, it could have been Remus checking everything out in the slightly paranoid way he did. He could have spent ages thinking about this, but then, Grace had got to the doors and was pulling him into a hug. As far as she would ever go in terms of public displays of affection, which suited Peter quite well.

"Hey, Pete! It feels like I haven't seen you in forever!" She was rather bubbly today, smiling and being rather over-exuberant. Not typical Grace behaviour, at least not when she was completely comfortable with everything.

"I know! Summer flew by when we were off, but now it seems ages since I was last here." Peter just felt so bad saying what he was saying, but then, what else could he do. He had vowed that he was not going to be a dick, and he was going to stick to that.

"You're telling me! I thought it had zipped by yesterday, but now, wow. So weird, isn't it?" They had been walking out of the Great Hall and the Entrance Hall, so that they were in a secluded corridor, probably leading to the dungeons or something. Peter didn't think it was one of the dead-end corridor. He had learnt all of those from the Marauders Map, just in case.

Grace stopped then, turning to face Peter. Her face had changed, but it wasn't terrible. More resigned than anything, and rather nervous too. Which couldn't be a good thing, not really.

"Look, I may have something to tell, ask, something, I don't even know what I'm doing now."

"Slow down, don't stress yourself out, I'm sure it's fine Grace."

"Well, I'm not sure that it's going to end up fine at the end of the day, that's the thing. You know, it's why I wasn't sure I was even going to do this but then I, well, I just knew really that this would be the right thing to do, so I did. But now, well it is so much harder now that we're actually doing this that I don't really know what to say and now it feels like-" Peter just grabbed her then, lightly, but it was enough to make her stop talking, and take a breath that she must have sorely needed, considering how much she had managed to say without taking a breath.

"Slow down, Grace. You were rambling, just take a breath and spit it out. I promise, it will be alright at the end of the day, whatever it is."

Grace just looked at Peter then, and almost burst into tears the way that her face just crumpled.

"Peter, I'm not sure that we should be, well, a we anymore. Be two individuals instead, maybe?" Grace wasn't making eye contact with Peter anymore, and she was fidgeting as well. So she wasn't expecting Peter's arms to engulf her when they did, because she thought that he would hate her.

When she realised that he was hugging her, and not about to hex her for any reason whatsoever, she broke down in his arms properly, heaving massive sobs that she couldn't have felt comfortable with if she wasn't hidden in a secluded corridor.

Of course, seeing that she didn't like being the centre of attention, and she didn't want to put Peter out any more than she thought that she already was, she stopped crying pretty quickly, and had pulled herself out of Peter's arms. Wiping her eyes, she looked at Peter again, to see what his reaction would be. Hugging never really gave much away, at the end of the day.

"Why aren't you yelling? Why aren't you upset? Why aren't you protesting or anything?" Grace was barely whispering, but Peter could hear her just fine. He knew how to listen to people.

"Maybe I just thought that it wasn't the same as it was before. It just seemed to have run its course, which I take it you felt too?"

"I suppose. We're still going to talk though, aren't we? I mean, you are kinda funny, and I don't really want to hate you. I'm not as a fan of hating people."

"Yeah, that's fine by me. Back to the friendship part, huh?"

"It's a deal." Grace just smiled at him, almost as if it was a one last time kind of thing, before walking off down the corridor that they were standing in the entrance of. Obviously it was a corridor that she knew about, which was lucky, thinking about it in hindsight.

But there was no point for Peter to stay in the corridor anymore, and it didn't feel like it had been that long, so Peter headed back to the Great Hall in the hope that maybe there would be time for him to get proper food, rather than the toast that he normally ate for breakfast.

Of course, it was twenty nine minutes past eight by the time that he got to the Great Hall, and one glance at the timetable that Remus had grabbed for him showed that Arithmancy with Professor Equen, who was a stickler for the rules in the first few lessons, when he actually remembered the rules himself. After that, well, there was a theory that you could just not turn up to lessons, and he wouldn't even notice.

So, Peter didn't even get time to have his normal slice of dry toast before he was running up to the sixth floor with James and Remus, who were also both Arithmancers like he was. Sirius was just lounging across the rows, feet somehow in Lily's lap even though they hadn't been sitting anywhere near each other, at least not when the three marauders had sat down.

Peter knew that the marauders would react badly to the news of his mutual breakup- they would think that he wanted another girlfriend, when really he wasn't sure that he wanted to have the stress of another relationship, especially while he was going to have the hardest exams he had ever sat to pass this year, to make sure that he would get a job at the end of the year.

So, even though he had sent a letter last night, there was only one person that he wanted to tell.

_Deb, _

_I know, you'll have just received a letter from me, and I know the normal protocol is to wait to receive a reply, but I couldn't wait for this. Because, well, Grace and I are no longer an item, and it actually wasn't me who suggested it. Apparently, she felt it too, which definitely made me feel better. Thank you for everything though, I mean, you really helped with everything you said. Anyway, write later._

_Pete _

**A/N: Wow, this was pretty quick this time, wasn't it? Yay, happy times ;) And they're actually starting to settle into Hogwarts now, which is a good thing, isn't it?  
**

**Thanks to my two reviewers (and favorites and followers!), it made me feel all warm and happy inside, so cookies for you guys! **

**Anyway, not much to say today, except, see you next time guys ;)**


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